Definitely, Casey
by thecanadian13
Summary: Same style as the movie Definitely Maybe. After Casey's daughter begs her to tell her the story of Casey's love life and personal relationships with three guys when she was in university, Casey agrees under one condition; all the names are changed.
1. Chapter 1

Casey stared down at her daughter as she pulled the loose strands of hair out of her face.

"Mom, did you know that the divorce rates have been dropping in Canada since the 90s?"

"No." Casey said, letting out with a chuckle, "I have not kept up with those stats in a while Abby."

"Well they have and it just got me wondering..." Abby dragged on. "Why did you and dad divorce each other?"

Casey stared soulfully down at her only daughter and let out a sigh. She knew this question was bound to come up some day, she just wasn't expecting it to come now, right in the middle of Tangled. "I don't know how to tell you this." Casey began as she was cut off by the overly excited Abby sitting on the couch next to her.

"You don't know how! Come on mom... start using words to form a sentence."

Casey changed the subject quickly in attempt to change topics. "How did you learn about Canadian divorce rates? What are they teaching 6th graders these days?" Abby didn't look impressed and crossed her arms. "Fine. Fine." Casey continued, "I never married your father. We were engaged, but I ended it before the wedding. You were already growing inside of me," Casey paused when Abby gave her a weird look. "I didn't know I was pregnant with you until after. You never once effected us splitting up."

Abby looked up with brighter spirits before bluntly asking her to continue. "Like I said, I almost married your father, but my heart wasn't there and even though I loved him, I just couldn't. It's hard to explain." Abby nodded, entranced with her mother's story. She awaited for more information, but received nothing else.

"That's it! Come one. I am eleven years old, I can handle what ever it is that happened!" Casey watched Abby, hesitant about continuing and flooding her daughter's mind with the events from her past. Finally, because of puppy dog eyes, Casey gave in.

"So, tell me Casey..." Casey gave Abby a stern eye as Abby continued. "...Mom, how did it happen?" Casey looked back at her daughter with a weird look in her eyes as her young daughter fixed her mother's confusion. "Not the sex mom, gosh." Casey gulped at the sight of her daughter saying sex and looked back for clarification. "How did you fall in love with dad and then decide that you didn't love him?" Abby started to look pained and a small bit of whining was sensed in her voice.

"I never said I didn't love him anymore."

"But then why didn't you marry him." Casey felt an unsettling feeling rise from her chest.

"Because just because you love someone, doesn't mean you should marry them and my love for your father is a different sort of love" Abby looked back in confusion. "Like the way I love you is different from the way I love strawberry ice cream."

"Oh! Okay!" Abby said with sudden realization forming in her eyes for a few seconds before she appeared baffled again. "What caused your love to change for him?:

"It wasn't sudden. You have to know that for starters. It was gradual. And as time passed I began to realize why we couldn't get married." The thoughts of those weeks over eleven years ago flooded in as she was taken back by her own imagination. "Before I agreed to marry your father, I was mixed up in emotions with two other guys."

Abby gasped as Casey got up to start dinner. "Mom... were you a...?" Abby let on as she motioned with her hands for her mom to make a guess at the word she did not want to leave her lips.

"No." Casey said, not sure of what to think of her daughter's reaction. She wasn't a slut. Not even close. It wasn't like she dated them all at the same time. She hadn't even dated one of them in fact. She came back strong, " These guys that impacted my life stayed in my mind after our initial confrontation, that's all."

Abby nodded as a wide grin spread across her face. "So, are you gonna tell me about these other guys then?" Casey smirked at her cleverness as a familiar image popped into her mind of another smirk that she used to be so accustomed to.

Stirring the pot of spaghetti, Casey pondered whether or not to go through with this parenting choice. Of course she felt closer to Abby then most parents did, since it was usually just the two of them, but giving her the specifics was unsettling. Finally, Casey agreed to start her story, under one condition.

"So are you gonna tell me or not?" Begged impatient Abby as she drifted toward the kitchen taking down two plates, two glasses, two sets of silverware, two recently washed cloth napkins.

"Okay, fine" Said Casey with added dramatization on her voice. "But there is one catch; I will not tell you who your father is in this story and to ensure that, I will switch up the names as well."

Instead of looking gloomy like Casey had expected, Abby looked up with eager eyes, determined to figure out her mother's true love.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Updates are less frequent than usual. Since the story is in past too, the story will transition into italics when it goes to the events Casey will tell Abby in the story and back to regular when Abby interrupts.**

**Definitely Casey (Cont.)**

Casey cleaned up the dishes as Abby snuggled into the tan colored couch. The TV clock read 8:30 and the sky was darkening outside their apartment window in downtown Toronto. Casey remembered her move back to the city she originally grew up in and the separation that occurred for her and Abby between them and the MacDonald-Venturis back in London. Of course Lizzie and Edwin were out on their own now and Marti and the youngest were still living with George and Nora. Casey had lost touch with Derek after university at Queens and she became quickly immersed in her new, yet old city.

Abby sat patiently on the couch awaiting her mothers shift to the living room. She was very anxious about hearing the story, because like her mother, this love story interested her very. Before long though, she appeared antsy and Casey took this as a signal for her to finish washing the dishes and start her story.

"So, as I told you I am not using any of the peoples' real names." Casey told Abby, even though Abby's countenance shown no interest to Casey's last comment. Even though Casey had never told Abby about any of the guys she was tangled up with in her years in university, the information could have been slipped by Nora or Lizzie. Abby had never met Edwin or Derek and only on a few occasions when Casey visited her family had Abby remembered Marti, George and George and Nora's only child together. Come to think of it, Casey didn't talk much about the older Venturis since they never came up in either of their lives anymore. Casey knew this might happen some day. Especially since they weren't actually blood related family to Casey and the time they lived together was very short.

"I guess my story starts in my second year of university when I started working at one of the local cafés on campus." Casey began.

"Is that where you meet the first guy?" Abby asked cutting in quickly.

"Hold on, okay, just let me continue, I will explain everything okay?" Casey scolded Abby for her rudeness. Abby nodded as Casey continued.

"Yes, the first guy also worked at the café. I hadn't seen him since high school graduation and he ended working in the same place that I did for a large part of my college career."

"So, you were friends in high school?" Abby asked not sensing the awkward expression on Casey's face,

"No. We were complete opposites actually. We weren't friends, but we weren't mortal enemies either." Casey finished, unsure of whether her statements had credibility. Again Abby nodded. Casey started the chronological story again after her background information had been said and started picturing her words in her mind as she began.

_ Casey walked into the Corner Café with her work shirt on and khaki shorts. Immediately a familiar face caught her eye. At first she thought he was only there to get a coffee or a snack before class, but with further investigation a name tag was noticed on the top right of his hockey shirt and the rest of his attire didn't follow the restaurant's dress code either. He kind of froze at first upon seeing her before his classic cocky smiled appeared slowly; a smile Casey hadn't seen in over a year. She walked over to him and said, "So..."_

"Micheal!" Abby shouted out as Casey was ready to create a new name. "Call him Micheal because Micheal Curly in my class likes hockey!" Casey agreed to call him Micheal and got back to the story.

_"So Micheal, what idiot hired you for this job." Casey asked_

_ "That idiot would be the man standing behind you." A no more than satisfied Micheal said in response to Casey's crude remark. Casey gulped as she turned to face a stout, but solid man in khaki pants and a nice new black dress shirt. He was barely taller than Casey, but Casey seemed miles shorter all of a sudden._

_ "I am going to assume that your previous comment was meant to insult... Micheal here instead of me, but in turn you have hurt both of us." The man said. Casey didn't know how to respond so she stood there with a guilty look on her face. "It's okay though, just as long as you are not rude to the customers." _

_ Casey had never been that type of person, but one minute with Micheal and she was already back to her old attitude from high school. But for some reason, Micheal hadn't seemed to join in for old times. After the boss left them to their work, Micheal began explaining her cashier job and then went back to walking around the spacious room making sure that the customers were happy and then supervising the staff preparing coffee and food items. Casey couldn't believe that Micheal of all people was in charge of anything, let alone the café during the evening hours. _

_ As the day dragged on, Casey's job was pretty simple, but boring. Up until this point everyone seemed to be busy all the time, but slowly less customers started coming in and pretty soon the atmosphere's intensity lessened. The girl working with Casey preparing coffee sat down on a stool and took out her cell phone and the kid in the back came out to sit down at one of the tables in front of the counter. Micheal even came back from the office and sat down beside the other guy at the table. Pretty soon, Casey was the only one still doing anything. No more food needed preparing and the rate of customers was so slow that Casey could take an order and make the coffee more efficient than the two of them working together._

_ "Take a break Case." Micheal said out of the silence of clicking cell phones. Casey looked up stunned at Micheal's comment. Casey stood where she was planted for another few seconds before moving out from behind the counter and sitting a table away from Micheal and the other kid, while the other girl remained sitting on the stool behind the counter. Casey sat there awkwardly with no cell phone to occupy her time with. Suddenly a soft screech let out from the chair adjacent to her side of the table. Micheal slid in and gave Casey a sheepish smile. Casey was even more unsure of what to do in response so she just nodded back. Micheal took the hint and shifted back to his old table, ever so often glancing back at Casey. _

"Why were you being so mean to... Micheal?" Abby asked as she stood there with a worried look on her face. Casey didn't know how to respond. She didn't want to go into their past since she never really mentioned it before and just hoped Abby would accept it, but apparently she didn't.

"It's complicated, Abby. Our past wasn't squeaky clean." Casey said as she thought back about how much of a jerk she had been when she first saw him again. The past was never just the past to Casey as feelings and thoughts lingered around like a bad smell, even after it had left.

_Work got better as Casey adapted to her fellow employee's lazy persona's. It was almost impossible for Casey to just not do anything, but it got easier. She quickly realized that the coffee girl was easy to talk to and friendly and that Andy, the boy who works in the back was awesome at guitar. Andy and Micheal even spent time together outside of the shop. Since Casey didn't get along the best with her room mates, her fellow café employee's were like a second family to her after spending so much time together. _

_ It got easier to be around Micheal too. His personality was usually void of any harsh remarks and during the earlier hours he was professional about everything. He may not have been on the Dean's list, but he was a shoe in for Employee of the Month. Casey still sensed the old Micheal shining in sometimes with the grins and over chilled attitude, but it was much more pleasant to be around him. Casey felt like any other girl around him now for some reason. They still shared the history, it just seemed like the bad parts of their history had never occurred and they avoided the subject altogether. The deepest they ever got at work was classes and hobbies. _

_ One late afternoon, no one was coming in and Micheal decided randomly to close the café and allow everyone to leave. As Casey was about to make a rebuttal, Micheal shouted that the guys next door to his apartment were throwing a party and that all four them should go. Casey had only been to __one college party since she came to Queens and it had been rather tame since it was hosted by the __dance team and instructors to attempt to get people to join. Casey had planned on joining anyway and this influenced her more. But dance hadn't started yet and since she had nothing else to do, so she complied and joined her fellow employees. _

_ The party was ten times rowdier than her dance get together. Casey immediately feared the cops arrival, but with reassurance from Micheal and a pat on the shoulder she breathed in and out and stepped in the room with alcohol smells pervading throughout. It wasn't that bad after the first few minutes of shock and as long as she hung by her friends, she felt a little more comfortable. When the coffee girl asked Andy to dance with her in the other room and Micheal had already branched off, Casey then became uncomfortable again. Everyone around her seemed on hyper drive and the oddest thing to her was that everyone tended to sit on counter tops instead of chairs. With a slight hesitation in fear of standing out, Casey made her way to the table in the kitchen and sat down observing the activity going on around her. _

_ Just then a tall blonde guy with alcohol on his breath noticed Casey sitting by herself and walked up sticking his hand out. Casey waved him down, but he insisted and pulled her up quickly as he led her into the foyer where the main group was situated dancing. Without warning, he started grinding on Casey forcing her against him and the other people crowded in the small area. With panic settling in, Casey couldn't seem to get out of the mess and her palms got sweaty and her pulse increased. With another shock, a hand reached into the masses and following the hand came the rest of Micheal fighting his way into the circle of people. With one motion, Micheal pushed the drunk blonde guy out of the way and grabbed Casey's hand as she was led out of the swarm. By the time she had cleared the mass and was now in a narrower hallway almost entirely rid of people, Casey's eyes were swelling up, but remembering Micheal's usual reaction to tears she tried to fight them back. Micheal looked down at her face for the first time and without hesitation pulled her into a warm, yet non smothering hug as he whispered, "I don't care if you cry."_

_ Gulping Casey fought back the tears even more as she managed to say, "I don't want to cry at a party, what will people think?" As she turned around from the wall and glanced quickly around at multicolored moving blob. Micheal laughed sincerely and pulled her back in as he made his way out slowly past the entrance that was almost entirely blocked. Casey smelled the coffee scent on Micheal's shirt and the absence of any type of alcohol. Of course, she never really had proof that he drank in high school, but before, she thought it was safe to assume so. Now she almost felt guilty. Had he changed and matured in these past years or had he always been like that and never shown it to Casey. _

"I like Micheal." Abby piped up as she broke her long chain of silence.

"I do too." Casey added as she was still lost in thought about her college years and the story she had been telling Abby. Glancing at the time Casey read 9:00 and decided that it would be best if she continued her story with Abby in bed just in case she fell asleep in the middle of it. Without complaining, Abby hurried to her room and changed into her pajamas as Casey slid on a pair of comfortable shorts and a t shirt. With Abby anxious to hear more, Casey sat down on the other side of Abby's bed and continued.

**Thought I would post this first since it's been longer than I hoped since I have updated. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hope you enjoy the next chapter. Leave a review if you have anything to critique, think would be a good addition to or if you just want to comment on my story. Without further ado... **

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

With her legs and feet under the comforter and her head propped up against the back board of her light maple bed, Abby settled in preparing for the rest of the story. She knew Casey still had two more guys to introduce and she hoped that they were as nice as Micheal was.

"I know you don't care about my schooling, even though, for your information, I was excelling with a 3.8 out 4 GPA." Casey trailed on with a sense of rectitude. Abby started to lose focus, so Casey got back to the drama. "It was almost Christmas time when the second guy came along..."

"Let's call him Matt." Abby piped up in glee.

"Okay... So it was almost Christmas time when I met Matt and it would be a while before I ever really knew him, but I guess I will get there later."

_Casey's head refrained from swiveling as she exited stage left after her last number. She always had to resist looking out into the small, but adequate audience during a dance show. She couldn't help taking quick glances to see how people were reacting to her performance. It was natural. She loved dance. She was almost as enthused about dance as she was school back in college. _

_ As she sat backstage, Casey messed with the hem on her colorful leotard and waited for the closing curtain before everyone walked onstage for a last bow. The footsteps of the final dancers passing by her signaled the end as clapping from the audience members succeeded. Backstage quickly became a multitude of rustling of bodies as everyone was needed for the recognitions. One after another, each girl would step forward, smile and the curtsy with the audience's applause following quickly after. Then the few guys that participated would step forward after the girls and bow together with force in their steps as they robustly moved around. _

_ Once the performance excitement had died down, Casey fell into another state of restlessness. Everyone around her was flocked by a family member, best friend or boyfriend, while she just headed for the door. Her dance instructor gave her a pat on the shoulder and mouthed "good job", but that was really the most attention she ever received. She really wished that her friends would be able to come for once and that her family didn't live so far away, but the truth was that she had to face the reality of being alone at these functions. She was about to look at her watch and see if it wasn't too late to get a few hours in at the caf__é__ since it was slowing down at this time anyway, when a sweet smell caught her attention from over her shoulder .A flicker of red and green came into view and she turned her head, uncertain of the foreign object. _

_ "For you me lady." Said a voice Casey was quite certain she had heard before, but unaware of where._

"Is that Matt?" Abby asked with a glow in her eyes. "I think he is going to be really romantic. Is it a rose in his hand? Oh I bet it is!"

"Yes, now can I continue before you have to go to sleep?" Casey asked rhetorically as a impatient attitude presented itself in the form of a sigh and rapid hand movements. Abby nodded again quite certain she could never fall asleep before the end of the story.

_Casey turned around to see a young man in black slacks and an untucked blue dress shirt like he just come off from work at a highly sophisticated merger company. His eyes twinkled and his curved smile gave off a cocky sincerity._

_ "Will you please accept my rose." He asked losing his renaissance accent and his bowed posture. Casey took the rose in hand as he smiled back happy to see her participation in his odd courtship. "My name is Matthew, but my friends just call me Matt."_

_ Casey stuck out her hand to distance herself and be perceived as polite as she spoke up. "Nice to meet you, my name is..."_

_ "Casey, Casey MacDonald. Wonderful performance if I might add. I like the new lifts, way more risqu__é__ then your previous performances." Matt said with a big grin. _

_ Casey looked away, a little scared about him being at more than one of her performances._

_ "Listen, I work part-time for the theater here and not to sound a little weird, or uncool." Matt said with air quotes, "but I love ballet, Jazz and a little bit of hip-hop on the side." He started leaning back to 'jerk' when he toppled over not realizing the steps behind them. In shock Casey rushed over and helped him up as he cringed in pain. "Like I said, on the side." He laughed lightly while holding in the pain._

_ "Can you walk on it?" Casey asked ignoring the side of him the was hitting on her right now._

_ "Maybe." He said less than intrigued. He stood up grabbing onto the railing on one side and Casey's forearm on the other. Immediately after he let go of Casey's arm and put pressure on his right ankle, he fell again as Casey attempted to save him, but failed. A split second later they were both laying on the dark red carpet at the side of the stage, one in more pain than the other._

_ "Your elbow is pressing on my stomach." Casey gagged as he rolled off of her and apologized._

_ "Do you have a car or someone to take you to the hospital?" Casey asked as she eyed his ankle as if diagnosing it right there. _

_ "No. I come here alone since it is in fact work, but I have a car... That I can't drive because of my ankle." He finished realizing the dilemma Casey had already jumped to seconds before. _

_ Unfamiliar with the guy, Casey felt weary about driving him herself, but what choice did he have? Everyone was pretty much out of the theater by now and she was just too nice to yell "See ya!" and scram. Of course, that was the explanation her rational mind gave her. Inside she was itching to break her comfortable routine, even if it was only a ride to the hospital, socializing with a new guy. _

_ Casey helped Matt into her car and started the car once situated. The drive to the hospital was fairly short and left little time for any conversation of more than minimal importance. But still, none the less, Matt started blabbing the minute they had turned out of the parking lot._

_ "Thanks for this. You didn't have to, but I am grateful for this big favor. I would have had to call someone and who knows how long that could of take?" _

_ "No problem.'" Casey shrugged her shoulders with two hands on the steering wheel still._

_ "I want to take you out to dinner. Think of it as a sign of my gratitude for you helping me with this." He said back with a sense of pride in his voice. _

_ "I don't know." Casey responded, quite true to her word. Matt turned to face her as she made a quick glance to the passenger's side. "I don't want to go dinner... But can you do me the favor of escorting me to this formal event for a charity organization. You don't have to donate or anything, but I am supposed to go for being in this 'green planet' association. I don't want to be the odd one out with a... date." She said awkwardly leaving the ending hanging._

_ "Sure. Absolutely." Matt said just as relieved as Casey was. _

_ "Thanks." Casey said unsure of who was doing the other a favor. She had accepted to go out with a random guy, but then again, this really was helping her and maybe it wouldn't be as awkward as asking a close, but yet non romantically involved friend. _

_ It was very chilled as they both entered the hospital's main doors with Casey's arm around Matt's shoulders helping him walk. Just then a nurse came into view with a wheel chair to save them the struggling. _

_ "What happened?" The nurse asked with a bit of drawl in her voice."Sports injury? What?"_

_ "It's kind of sport related." Matt said hesitantly._

_ "He fell down the stairs while dancing." Casey cut in, cutting the bull crap. _

_ The nurse laughed as she pulled out a pen and grabbed a clip board on the front desk. "Well you and your girlfriend can fill this out and then we can take x-rays of your ankle after that."_

_ "We aren't dating!" Casey said prudently. _

_ They both sat down in the blue clothed seats and stared down at the forms. _

_ "You don't need to help me from here." Matt said following her descent into the chair. _

_ Casey looked surprised as she got up to leave and swung her purse over her shoulder. Touching his hand to hers lightly, she twitched. "Thank you again." He said gazing upward. "Here is my number, call me and let me know when to meet up with you for this charity event of yours."_

_ Casey blushed slightly as she turned toward the door, lingering around with a few looks back at the cute blonde boy that had just entered her life. _

**For future notice, each chapter doesn't switch back and forth from one guy to another all the time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews some of you gave. The most inspiration I get for writing this is of course from my readers, so the more I get feedback, the more willed I am to continue.**

**Definitely, Casey (Cont)**

_Casey took her white lace covered hand and slipped it into Matt's pancake style, so it was just their palms facing each other while their individual fingers stuck together. The sound of heels clicking against the marble patio signaled Casey's arrival as a few people by the foyer glanced quickly at another anonymous pair of college students entering the Go Green's banquet hall. Rather unidentifiable music was heard coming softly out of the speakers in each room and masses of people ranging from barely 18 to late 50s were seen roaming around the mansion where the charity dinner was taking place. _

_ The front where the main doors were was slowly draining of people as the chill of the Canadian wind in early October was causing many guests lingering there to become quite cold. The main edifice of the large donator's property was filling up considerably fast and as Casey looked around in awe, she felt to grow considerably smaller around the more influential people. She really thought that she was making a difference in the organization, but seeing this mansion really showed her how many people were in this formerly advertised 'small organization fighting against the destruction of planet Earth'. She shrugged off the bad thought as she began searching for some of her fellow college students._

_ "Do you see anyone you know?" Casey asked Matt with her head on a swivel. Matt shrugged as Casey led him down a narrower hallway._

_ "I don't think I know anyone here." Matt finally let out. "I don't go to Queens."_

_ Casey spun on him in her two inch heels as she gave Matt a concerning look. "How old are you then?"_

_ Matt couldn't help but chuckle at Casey's seriousness. "Just twenty two. Two or three years older than you I suspect. I dropped out of Queens a year ago, but stuck around for the people and my jobs." He said adding an accent to the 's' on jobs. _

_ Instantly Casey felt compassion for Matt, along with a little bit of concern. "How..." Casey tried to say before being interrupted by Matt._

_ "College isn't right for me right now okay. Don't try to get me to go back right now, I am happy." Casey understood slowly and then agreed to drop the topic. _

_ "So how is your ankle?"_

_ "It's only sprained apparently. I guess I am a bit of a baby when I hurt myself, but it's almost better now." Matt said. "It's been a few weeks now, so it should be way better. Thanks again for helping me again." Casey blushed as they both looked around the room that they had just stepped into._

_ Without realizing it the two had made their way over to the main ballroom where tables were set up with chairs. Along the wall was a counter decorated with an assortment of colorful, and yet pleasingly scented foods. Matt spotted the cuisine immediately and then the open bar while Casey sat down sighing as she wasn't able to drink yet. Before continuing onto the bar, Matt stopped back at the table and handed Casey a plate of small finger foods. She smiled at him thinking of her and then he invited her to join him while he tended to the bar. At first she was reluctant at going, but with a slight twinkle in his eye and an arch in his back, Matt gave off the renaissance presence yet again that Casey couldn't resist. _

_ The long bar's counter extended all the way around one of the corner's off the room so it curved perfectly where one high and lightly painted wall met another. Matt found an opening at the end farthest from them and sauntered over. Just then a really peculiar voice rang out beside them, just a few people over from their position along the bar. _

_ "Two lemon drops, please." Said a guy's voice on the other side of a girl dressed in a long black floor gown. The girl succeeded to take the drink just ordered as the man with her swung an arm around her back and led her away._

_ "Casey!" The man said a little too excitedly as his date looked highly offended at his random outburst._

"Is this the third guy or Micheal?" Abby asked jumping in right before Casey was about to deliver her punchline. "Because if it's the third guy I have decided on his name."

Casey sighed in frustration as Abby sagged down in her bed. "Sorry mom... It's Ryan though." She finished smiling with all her teeth showing.

"As I was saying..."

_ "Micheal?" Casey laughed, partly surprised and at the same time amused. "You're in Go Green?" _

_ "No, I am in." His date stepped in with anger in her voice. "And we need to get back to our group."_

_ Micheal obviously looked pained by his date's want to leave, but he left reluctantly hesitating every few seconds, speechless. _

_ "That was weird." Casey told Matt._

_ Matt just stood there with his hands jammed in his pockets, obviously feeling out of place. "He was probably out of words for how beautiful you are tonight, at least I am."_

_ Casey smiled at his sudden shy compliment and hooked arms with him as he ordered himself a beer and Casey a strawberry daiquiri._

_ "I don't know about this." Casey told Matt sternly after handing her the fruity alcoholic drink._

_ "You will be fine." Matt comforted her. "There's barely any alcohol compared to my beer."_

_ Casey wasn't sure of how true Matt's statement was, but she had been fine when she accidentally took a swig of vodka at a party during high school and it was only glass. Casey relented and took a sip of the red colored beverage as a partly frozen and thick liquid met her lips. She swallowed as she realized that it was in fact not as bad of an experience as the vodka had been; it was in fact pretty good._

_ "See?" Matt said obviously sensing her enjoyment of the daiquiri. Casey nodded smiling as they took a seat back at their table. They snacked on the small pastries and miniaturized fancy dishes before the president of the organization spoke. _

_ "Hi and welcome to the 3rd annual Go Green Charity Banquet." The president, a woman in her mid forties in a rather reserved business suite, began. " As you know we have goals to meet and goals that will hopefully improve our world. Our world that is turning to disgust and filth. With your help, you can fund our many projects to first improve our community, then our province, our country and our world..." _

Abby yawned as Casey brought the sheets up, right below her neck. "Don't stop mom, I am still awake. At least tell me how the banquet ends."

Casey smiled and kissed her daughter on the forehead before continuing.

_As the president made a closing line to her short, yet sweet speech, the higher aristocrats with the money stood up and clapped as the college and post grad students followed. _ _The next hour was filled with a lot of socializing, mooching and drinking. The more a person was laughing, the more likely they had enjoyed the open bar a little too much. Casey of course had a small bit of disdain plastered over her face. She always felt somewhat out of place at these functions and the only people she knew in the Go Green organization had somehow wiggled their way out of coming tonight. Besides Matt, Micheal was the only person she felt comfortable talking to. So when Matt announced that he had enjoyed coming and talking with Casey, but he had to get going before the night traffic got too bustling, Casey considered walking over to Micheal. He was chilling in an almost too comfortable posture at a table five down from the one she had shared with three woman and their husbands in their thirties. But as the thought came, it fled very fast, when the girl in the floor gown sat down on his lap._

_ Casey sat there uncomfortable waiting for the event to end. Every member that came had to stay till the end if they wanted to plan out the following years volunteer work with the heads of the committee since they avoided any too organized meeting during a charity event which bothered Casey. 11:00 was not coming fast enough. By 10:15 a large amount of people had migrated to the exit and out into the night whether they decided to head home or out on the town. Micheal was still there, but always in the hands of the dark skinned beauty that snapped at her earlier. She sat there wondering why she wanted to see him so badly. It was because she was alone and in awkward situation, right? That was the most rational explanation. But she knew deep down, that he was her light to a world much more comfortable to her. A world with adequate university shop coffee and young non-black tie parties. Without realizing it she had nodded off, right there in her chair! Just fell asleep for ten to fifteen minutes. By the time her eyes had adjusted, the heads of the committees were gathering the volunteers across from the podium. Mostly college girls and post grads were there to sign up for city projects along with Micheal's date. Where was Micheal though? Casey sat there listening to the girl in charge of the local city projects wondering where he could be, or if he had already left. _

_ When the meeting adjourned the dark skinned girl left on her own and Casey quickly jumped to the conclusion that he had left during her nap. She left along with everyone and made her way out to her old mustang convertible that she had received as a birthday present from her closest friends and family. It was her sweet sixteen present three years over due. Then she noticed someone was passed out in her car! Furious she wondered who would go through the trouble of climbing in the small window slot that she had accidentally left down. As the man's brown hair was made out from the glare of the moon, a weird feeling made presence in Casey's stomach. It was like the feeling you get during free fall on one of those amusement park rides when the shock of falling has already over took you and now you feel weightless. _

_ "Micheal...Micheal." Casey shook him whispering in his ear once she had stepped into her car. _

_ He made a quiet moaning sound from under his breathe._

_ "How much did you drink?" She asked confused. Micheal held a finger up signaling 'one drink'. "How can you be passed out from one lemon drop?" Casey asked hoping to get a short answer if any. To her avail, Micheal just gurgled like a new born and fell asleep again. His breathe did not wreak of alcohol and yet, he seemed as if he had downed the whole bar. This time Casey used a different strategy._

_ "Do you think she slipped you any drugs in your drink? Yes or No?" Micheal made no sound but slowly nodded. Casey suddenly felt an emotion similar to rage as she mouthed "That bitch."_

_ Casey sat in her car with Micheal barely awake in the passenger seat wondering what next. Her first instinct was to go to the hospital again, but his vital signs seemed fine and she had read so many times in high school about these types of drugs. What was best for him was water and sleep. She was surprised that he was still communicating with her, but he was sure to fully pass out soon depending on when she had given him the drug. Casey was just starting the car when Micheal finally went as he collapsed onto Casey's lap. Pulling him up wasn't the hard part though, keeping him up was. As she neared the greater campus area, Micheal kept leaning over towards the driver's side as he almost landed on the stick shift four times. When she was within five kilometers of her apartment she quickly realized that she didn't know where he lived. She tried nudging him, but it was hopeless. Struck with a new dilemma, Casey decided to continue driving to her apartment waiting to face the obstacle of moving him once she arrived._

"Keep going." Abby yawned as Casey noticed her drifting off to sleep fast. Casey stood up turning off the lights in Abby's room. "I want to hear the rest." Abby whined again.

"In the morning." Casey hushed. "In the morning."


	5. Chapter 5

__**A/N: Sorry for the delay, but summer classes are the worst. Hope you like the next chapter. ER! Enjoy and Review :)**

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

Abby woke the next morning with bags under her eyes. She had stayed awake long after her mother had prompted her to fall asleep. Abby couldn't stop thinking about the two guys Casey had already mentioned and was eager to hear of the last even though she liked the first two very much.

After entering the living room Abby smelled pancakes coming from the kitchen and raced over feeling totally alive again.

"Woh! Hold on there Missy. I am not done cooking yet." Casey said with a half grin as Abby smiled back. Tapping the table with her fork Abby hummed a song from Tangled  and turned to her mother when the song had ended.

"Mom... Can you continue the story please."

"Can we have breakfast first?" Casey asked rhetorically.

Of course Abby didn't get the hint and answered back. "No. I really, really want to find out how younger you is going to move a big dude out of the passenger seat of your car."

Casey stared off into space not ready for Abby's retort. "He isn't a big dude." Casey said, directing her attention at the morning sky instead of Abby. "He's like, not too small and not too big you know. Just right."

Obviously not catching her mother's day dreaming Abby persisted. "That's great mom, but how did you move him? Did you leave him in your car?" Abby scoffed at the last assumption.

"No. I didn't."

"Then tell me." Abby whined drawing out the 'me' in her statement so it lasted five seconds.

"Eat and then I will continue." Casey finished slapping down a fruity pancake on her plate in front of her.

_Casey glanced over at the 140 lbs of Micheal laying drooped over against her passenger seat door totally passed out. She was completely out of options at the moment. His cell phone was dead, so she couldn't phone one of his friends and he just wouldn't wake up. Plus she had no idea where he lived or who she could call from her house phone inside. Finally after going through her options again, she resorted to carrying him in on her own. _

_ She remembered the safety course she had taken many years ago and the fireman lift she had performed on her best friend Emily. But Micheal was of course, no Emily._

"Who's Emily?" Abby asked quickly jumping in.

"One of my friends from high school." Casey replied clearing the dishes to the sink.

"Do you still talk to her?"

"No, I don't." Casey said with a sigh.

You should." Abby added in before allowing Casey to continue with her college drama.

_Thanking god for no stairs, Casey silently mouthed 'thank you' as she trudged over to unlock her apartment on the first floor. She heaved Micheal back over her shoulder and as carefully as she could, sat him down against the wall as she got out her key. After unlocking the door she dragged Micheal across the premises as his dead weight body slumped forward. _

_ Once inside she thought carefully of what to do. With no doubt he would wake in the dead of night and wonder where the hell he was so for a few moments she thought of taping a paper to his forehead, but reconsidered after the reality of that picture came to mind. Instead she brought him over to the couched and lay him down with his head resting on a couple pillows at one end and his feet at the other. _

_ She stared down at him, almost stalker like, as she noticed a few things wrong with the picture. Feeling sorry for him and sympathetic she took off his shoes and brought a blanket back out to her small, but adequate living room area and threw the blanket in the air as it floated down almost angelic above his body. _

_ Leaving a glass of water and a small note beside it saying "You were passed out. Sleeping in the room across from the kitchen. Just knock if you need anything. -Casey", she left the room and fell asleep in her own room. _

_ The next morning she felt rather warm and she woke up to see Micheal snuggling up in her sheets on the other side of the bed with a hand on her shoulder. Slowly rolling over to see him with more than her peripherals, she felt something hard against her back as she leapt up with a shriek. Slowly Micheal awoke as he rubbed his eyes and felt his shirt and jeans and then looked around to see where he was. _

_ Right in front of him Casey was glaring with fierce eyes._

_ "Oh. Hey Casey." He said lingering on her name. "Did we?" He asked making random and suggestive hand signals._

_ Appalled, Casey let out another shriek, this time with anger on her face because of his accusation. "No we didn't."_

**"**What did they not do?" Abby asked almost quizzical.

"The thing mentioned earlier when I thought you asked me about having you." Casey said back awkwardly unsure if it was a good parenting decision to disclose the information.

"Sex?" Abby asked. Casey nodded slowly and got back to the story quickly.

_"Okay." Micheal shrugged nonchalantly as he remade the bed. Casey gave him a weird look then left the room. _

_ While drinking a glass of orange juice, Micheal made his way into her kitchen and opened the fridge like he owned the place, searching around for something. _

_ Ignoring his rudeness, Casey remembered what she was about to say to him earlier. "Why were you in my bed?"_

_ "Well, how should I know. I don't remember a thing from last night really. I just figured that you finally ditched that douche of a boy friend you had and you know, hung out with me. As of why I don't remember anything, I can't exactly give you a good answer, because I don't think I had a lot to drink or anything. It doesn't matter though. I'm alive. I'm here. What should we do?"_

_ Before Casey could form a rebuttal, Micheal had cut in again. "Actually, do you have any Kool Aid?"_

_ Casey gave him a weird look as a she thought of how his child like wonder and wants could be so appealing to her. She finally smiled and went to her __cupboard_ _to retrieve some Kool Aid mix._

_ After she had made a pitcher of Cherry flavored Kool Aid and sat down across from him, she replied to his earlier statement._

_ "Actually, I think you were drugged because you were almost totally passed out in my car when I came to leave. I was gonna drive you home, but I didn't know where you lived so I brought you back to my apartment and put you on the couch." Casey said adding emphasis to the last word. "How you ended up in my room in my bed beats me."_

_ Micheal chuckled. "I don't know either, but you look so peeved. Chill Case. Chill." He ended, attempting to simulate pregnancy breathing exercises. _

_ Casey couldn't help back laugh at his mockery and punched his arm._

_ "So, that was one fine looking piece of prick you had last night escort you. Did you dump him because he looked a little crestfallen when he left early."_

_ "No." Casey said. "No I didn't dump him, we aren't even going out._

_ "Oh." Micheal said. "Good."_

_ "I might." Casey added in quietly. "Ask."_

_ Micheal looked disgusted and a little uneasy. "Really?"_

_ "Yeah. But later I guess, we can just go on dates and crap." Casey said rather easily._

_ "Don't do that." Micheal said rather seriously._

_ "Why?" Casey demanded._

_ "Because if he thinks you are casual, bad things could ensue Case, alright and I don't want you all sobby at work." He finished transitioning out of an emotion filled explanation to a rather unemotional and logical statement. _

_ Casey just stared at him before getting up to change into her regular clothes. A few minutes after she had left, there was a knock on her door._

_ "Hey, I am leaving." Micheal said from behind the door._

_ Casey was just about to call after him when her phone rang and she turned to pick it up. Unable to pursue Micheal, not fully clothed she sighed and hit 'Answer' on her phone. _

_ "Hello."_

_ "Hey, it's Matt. Uh, just calling to let you know, I had a good time and I was wondering if you would maybe want to catch a movie..." He said while Casey was all silence on the other end. "You know, just a date or an outing. Nothing serious." He added in hopes she would respond._

_ Hesitant Casey nodded to herself before answering "Yes."_

_ "Cool. Um. 8:00 sound okay? We can watch Definitely, Maybe at my place? Sound good?"_

_ Casey nodded again, before realizing he couldn't see her responded, "Yes."_

_ With a click, he had hung up and Casey was torn between Micheal's words and Matt's sweet invitation. _


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I hope the story is still interesting, because it's not even close to being done.**

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

_ Casey sat in her apartment for the remainder of the morning deciding on whether or not she should go out with Matt that night. She also found Micheal's sudden change in attitude very alarming and wondered if there was something he wasn't telling her. While cooking up a plate of spaghetti for herself at lunch, Casey's phone rang and Matt's name popped up on the caller ID._

_ "Hello?" She asked hurriedly as she moved her steaming pasta from the strainer to the pot. _

_ "Hey it's Matt. Something came up at... Uh work and I'll have to cancel our date tonight." Casey stood there apprehensive and a little relieved at the loss of a tough decision._

_ "Oh, okay. That's fine. Gotta make money." Casey stammered. _

_ "Alright, cool." Matt sounded relieved. "Talk to you later, maybe we can hang out another time."_

_ Casey hung up the phone pacing over to the phone stand. A little anxious and confused, she wondered what had just happened. She didn't know much about Matt and Micheal's words weren't too assuring. Besides that though, he looked like a nice guy and Micheal's protectiveness was just a thing Micheal did. _

_ By 3:30, Casey came to the conclusion that whatever Matt had done and why was not of her inquiry and that avoiding Micheal was not humanly possible if she wanted to keep her much needed job. Soon she was suited it up with a green Corner Café apron and black slacks and on her way over to the shop._

_ To her relief Micheal wasn't even there and work was a breeze. With a light amount of customers and a chill atmosphere, Casey returned to a more balanced state all the way to closing. As the other were locking the front doors, Casey made her way to the back with a shop key and her regular clothes already on._

_ A voice made her jump as she turned the lock once outside._

_ "Took my advice, didn't you?" Micheal breathed from behind Casey's neck. Casey flipped her hair around and spun to meet Micheal's face and replied. "I was thinking about it actually, but it was Matt who canceled." Casey held her stare, a little anxious, thinking that Micheal's next words would be of mockery and scorn._

_ "That douche." Micheal said shaking his head. Casey smiled slightly, always a little too happy about Micheal's hatred towards guys that hurt her or even came close. _

_ "So wait, what are you doing here?" Casey asked._

_ "Oh, it was my night off, so I was hanging with friends at a restaurant not too far from here." Casey still gave him the look, so Micheal continued. "And the driver drank to much, so here I am, asking you for a ride again." He shoved his hand back through his hair, hoping that his quick delivery would make his favor less requesting. _

_ "Are you drunk?" _

_ "No, but he doesn't remember where he put his keys and the others already found another ride, so like I said before, here I am." _

_ Casey agreed, this time being able to drive Derek over to his actual apartment. The small loft was farther than expected and it took Casey twenty minutes to drive there. Sometime between ten minutes and fifteen Micheal fell asleep in the passenger's seat and Casey prayed he was not drugged again. Fortunately once she pulled up his apartment complex, he was stirring and Casey gave him small shove to force consciousness faster. _

_ "Thanks." He muttered, obviously drained from his day's events. He reached over to give her hug, but then oddly patted her head as he forced back another yawn. "Nighty night Case."_

_ Casey waved back and pulled out of the parking lot, tired as well._


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I know it has been a while. But I have had no inspiration lately. Oh well.**

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

"So what happened next?" Abby asked with excitement is her eyes. "Are you and Micheal friends again? What happened to Matt? I don't believe he had to go to work, do you?"

Casey stared down at her daughter chuckling. "Of course I know what really happened, but I am not telling you yet. I guess Micheal and I could be considered friends at that point." Casey continued on losing sight of reality as she eloped to her own thoughts and memories.

Abby quickly interrupted Casey's trip down memory lane as she bombarded her with more questions. "How were you only kind of friends with Micheal?"

"Well, don't give me any stupid grin or look when I tell you, but I could of sworn Micheal started flirting with me in those weeks that I wasn't going out with Matt."

Abby let out a giggle, but then looked confused. "What did he do? How did he flirt?" Abby just had to get into everything, but Casey relented and told her.

_Casey rushed into work late for the third time that week. It wasn't like she made a habit of being late or even had a choice. It was turning into old times again as Micheal, no doubt, had pranked her again for the third time that week. This time instead of coming out to her car to find it without any gas in it, she had come out to no car at all. Somehow Micheal had moved it all the way across the street, a couple buildings down and into the parking lot of an adult video store. So when she had finally found it that morning she had to put up with the weird looks that people passing by had given her. _

_ Putting her purse and bag in the employees' break room, she saw a trail of porn video cases with her name sticky noted to the outside going all the way from her locker to her post behind the counter. With a devilish smile, she saw him sitting out on a bar stool facing away from the window. _

_ "You should really return those before people get the wrong idea." He said fighting back a grin. Casey just stuck her tongue out at him and began tearing them off the walls and floor boards before dumping them in his lap._

_ "No actually Micheal, you should really put the videos back in their cases and return them before you are charged for a late fee." Casey said mockingly._

_ "Who said they were rentals." Casey gave her most convincing shocked face before messing his hair up and going back to her post. _

"That's a kind of weird way of flirting, I'd say." Abby commented after Casey had finished talking about one of her examples.

Casey fell into another dreamy state before mentioning, "Well, Micheal and I, we always had a weird thing going."

"So you did date?" Abby said lighting up. But Casey just shook her head no.

"Was that all you guys did, back and forth pranking and retaliating or something?" Abby asked.

"That's all we used to do, back in high school I guess, but we had are nice moments too."

"Oh. Like what?"

_Casey rushed to throw her work clothes in her bag as she was gonna be late to her dance practice. Micheal noticed the panicked rush in Casey's usual orderly ways and stepped in to ask. "What's the problem princess?"_

_ "Gonna be late." She said to him as much as she did to herself._

_ "You have half an hour to get there!" Micheal said surprised._

_ A little astonished that he knew her dance practice Casey looked at him until returning to her rushing. "Yes, but the bus I have to take right now has already left and the one that comes after won't get me to practice on time."_

_ Micheal nodded slowly remembering that her little car toy car was in the shop. "I can drive you." He finally spoke up._

_ "Not like I pay much attention." She said even more flushed and frantic, "But you have a band concert you have to leave for in ten minutes and by the time you drop me off, you will be late."_

_ "It's okay." He said smiling and leading her out of the coffee shop with his hand on the small of her back. "This seems a little more important."_

_ With an obnoxious laugh she whispered 'yeah right', but happily obliged to have him take her. _

Abby sat there smiling a little too happily at her mom.

"What?" Casey asked cleaning off her face as if she had food left on it from breakfast.

"He's my dad, isn't he?"

Casey just laughed almost a little too eccentrically before pulling Abby up and hustling her up to go get changed.

"What about the rest of the story?" She asked sadly.

"Later." Abby nodded a little let down, but continued on to her room to get dressed and brush her teeth.

**Only a small chapter, but I am getting back into writing this.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Getting excited about this story just because it's bloody brilliant (Harry Potter fan here).**

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

Casey led Abby around the small zoo as her daughter pressed her hands against every glass surface she could get her hands on. Most of the animals were some sort of aquatic life, which excited Abby very much. Unfortunately, they had no dolphins, so by the time they had visited half the exhibits, Abby was bored.

"Hey mom," Abby asked while straining her neck to see into the sea lion exhibit. "I know you said that we needed to drop the story for the day-"

"Yes I did." Casey said. "You really needed a break from simple story telling. You know; fresh air, exercise, a form of entertainment that's not you."

"Yeah yeah yeah." Abby brushed off. "But can you at least introduce the last guy, I mean what happened to him, I thought you said there was three?"

"Well he doesn't come up yet."

"When will he?" Abby continued to pester.

"Tomorrow. I will continue the story before you go to bed tonight and then hopefully by tomorrow I will get to... Ryan."

"Ryan. Alright. That's not his name is it?" Casey just shook her head. "Will you have the story done on Sunday at least because I don't want to be unfocused at school come Monday."

Casey chuckled at her daughter's craftiness. "Fine. I will try to finish it by tomorrow so you can focus on your school work." Abby just smiled in success.

XXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXX

"Are you situated?" Casey asked Abby before sitting down at the end of her daughter's bed.

"Yes, you can begin." Abby replied leaning against her head board.

_Casey sat in her apartment humming along to methodical song emanating from her stereo. She smiled at the thought of her and Michael's time spent together over the winter vacation. They had both gone home to visit their families and even though it felt a little weird back in their old town, it was some what refreshing. Some family members were surprised at how little they seemed to actually fight. Sure they bickered until exhaustion, but nothing was ever serious. It was sad going returning to Queens, but they still had a few hours to talk and bother each other in the car ride back. They had never visited home taking one car, so they immediately ran into a few problems._

_ First of all, Michael's choice of music was way different then Casey's. After a back and forth changing of the stations, they compromised by plugging in Michael's iPod and switching from one Pandora station to the next every other song. Their second problem hit when their stomach's grumbled. Almost on queue, Michael who was driving pulled into a random fast food restaurant while Casey protested and demanded he find the closest sandwich shop. Of course, they compromised again and chose a Subway that was also connected to a McDonalds. Compromise became the new trend for them, as they both never relented due to their stubborn ways. It was almost sweet, the scene of the two of them sitting in the old Prince downing their food with the addicting smell of fries on one half of the car and the strong smell of Sweet Onion sauce pervading throughout the other. It only became a little nauseating when the two mixed together. _

_ It was late at night when the two finally arrived back on campus again. Michael first headed for Casey's apartment to drop her off before he was to drive home himself. As he pulled up in front of her more than ordinary complex that he had come accustomed to, she yawned and reached behind her to retrieve her travel bag. Michael was just close enough to get a woof of her hair as it swished passed his face. Without second thinking it, Michael leaned forward and kissed Casey on her forehead. __Happily surprised, Casey blushed back before noticing a familiar man leaning against her apartment door. Before Michael was able to push her back out of her face, Casey was out of the car and walking quickly to her apartment. Confused Michael looked up to see Matt the douche casually leaning against her door. Angry and embarrassed at the same time, Michael slammed on the gas petal as he sped out of her apartment complex parking lot. Casey only slightly noticed Michael's odd behavior before Matt spoke up. _

_ "I heard you left for the break, but not when you'd get back." Matt said shyly still ashamed about not speaking to Casey for weeks. He looked hurt and his mood wasn't as cocky as before._

_ "How long have you been waiting here?" Casey asked unlocking her door and inviting Matt in._

_ "Tonight; a hour. Yesterday and the day before; three hours." _

_ Casey's jaw dropped as she took his coat. "Gosh." Was all she could get out._

_ "It's okay." Matt said blushing. "I actually came here to ask for a second chance and a date." _

_ Casey smiled sweetly before only slightly hesitating. _

_ "You aren't dating anyone?" He asked a little taken back._

_ "No. There's no one." She quickly corrected him. He smiled._

_ "I should leave though, it's late. Lunch at your place the day before classes return?" He asked almost leaving off the possibility of a no._

_ Of course she agreed and with that he turned and left._

_ Casey leaned back in her chair as the song ended and another song, this one being a little bit more spunkier than the last, began playing. _

_ "Sorry it took so long." Matt hummed as he joined her on the couch and handed her a a plate of mini sandwiches and a glass of lemonade. _

_ Casey waved his apology off and bit into the small ham sandwich he had prepared for her for their date. _

_ "Are you sure?" He asked with concern. "I know you have work later and-"_

_ "It's fine." Casey assured him putting her sandwich down and taking a swig of lemonade. "I can be a little late if we don't finish on time. The boss is nice, he can let it slide."_

_ Casey ended up leaving her apartment for work an hour or so late. When she got there, the other counter girl pulled her aside._

_ "Hey. What'd he do this time?" She asked in a whisper. Casey just looked blankly back. "What prank did Michael do this time that you're this late?"_

_ "Oh." Casey said a little uneasy. "He didn't do anything, I was just running behind."_

_ "Mhm." The girl replied before going back to her post._

_ Casey Was putting on her caf__é__ apron when she saw Michael enter the employee's break room. He did not loom happy._

_ "Where have you been?" Michael asked tapping on the wall beside him. _

_ "Chill Michael, my lunch ran late with a friend." Casey replied a little freaked out._

_ "Who?" Michael asked, avoiding Casey's eyes._

_ "Matt." She said looking down at her feet. Michael just scoffed before turning and leaving the room._

_ Casey rolled her eyes as she finished tying the knot behind her. "Oh and you're fired." Michael said ducking his head back in the room._

_ "I'm what?" Casey yelled stalking after him. _

_ He dismissed her question and weaved in between the customers as she followed behind him, obviously avoiding confrontation. When he finally had made his way to the back of the caf__é, Casey caught up and cornered him._

_ "You can't just fire me." Casey said still bewildered._

_ "Yes I can." He said making an attempt to duck around her._

_ She pulled his shoulderes back up and in front of her before continuing. "You have no base to fire me."_

_ "You were late." He said staring at her forehead, dodging her furious eyes. "That gives me enough ground to fire you."_

_ "Fine." She yelled, getting the attention of the whole restaurant now. "Have a nice time skulking over my happiness while I go out and enjoy it." _

_ He just gave her a nasty look before she continued her show. Tearing off her apron and throwing it at him she stepped even closer to him and flipped open her new cell phone. Casey dialed Matt's number and stood still before hearing his voice on the other side. "Hey Matt." She said emphasizing his name, "Would you like to catch a movie tonight?"_

_ There was silence on the other end before he questioned her. "Yes, I used to have work tonight, but not anymore..." More silence. "I thought he was my friend, but I guess not. Pick me up at 7:00?" _

_ With a smile, she closed her phone before leaving Michael against the wall holding her apron. His indifferent face had been replaced itself with grief and annoyance all in the span of a couple minutes._

_ As Casey pushed passed everyone in the front of the café, she turned to give Michael once last dirty look, but couldn't as he had already retreated to his office. _

**Yeah, rough times for Michael (cough cough) and Casey. **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Uploading was confusing. Make sure you have read chapters 6-8 because I uploaded them again with different work. **

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.) **

"So that's it?" Abby asked with watery eyes as she looked up at her mom sighing at the end of her bed. "Michael isn't my dad?"

Casey looked up, still feeling the hurt and stupidity she had felt those years ago. "I can't tell you, okay. But don't make any of these guys the bad guy alright? They were all nice."

"Psh." Abby said making a weird gesture with her hands. "That's what you think."

"Can I get back to the story now?" Casey said as she yawned. "If you keep interrupting, I won't finish before school resumes."

Abby nodded and relaxed again, back onto her fluffy blue pillows.

_ "So are we a couple?" Casey leaned in asking as she sat with Matt at a restaurant one night._

_ "I don't know. I mean, we have been going out on dates for a couple months."_

_ "Yeah. But it's not steady dates. And I don't mind." Casey said cutting in quickly before Matt could bring up an excuse. "It's just that, I was curious."_

_ "Well I guess we can go out more until one of us decides that he or she wants to take it further. At that time we would be an exclusive couple, you know?"_

_ Casey just nodded playing with the spaghetti on her plate._

_ "Well for now let's just enjoy our Italian food." Matt said looking at Casey in the eyes giving off his sweet smile. _

_ Casey got back from dinner that night exhausted. She had taken a job a week ago at the hospital near by so she could make her rent, but the money wasn't very good and the hours really strained her. Thinking about work made her think about Michael. They hadn't really talked since January. And even though he had been harsh and unnecessarily cruel, Casey missed his company. A couple times she had almost gotten up enough courage and dignity to go down to the caf__é or his apartment and apologize. But she couldn't sand to see him turn her down or slam the door in her face. She had left their relationship, or whatever friendship they had before, ahead and if she saw him again and he got the better of the argument, she wouldn't be able to keep her composure. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of him. He hated it when girls cried in front of him. Always had, always will. _

_ Of course she had seen him on campus or out in the town but it was like seeing a stranger. You see them, but it means nothing and it doesn't really effect your day. The last part of that was sadly untrue though. They treated each other like complete strangers, but inside, at least for her, it killed. It was like being built up in emotion and then slammed on your face. The old times truly died hard and it was only routine that she would get excited when she saw him outside of work. _

_ Casey had been so nervous onstage that night, and not just because of her performance. She and Matt had been steadily seeing each other more often and when he invited her out to one of her favorite shows the other night, she decided that she would officially ask him to be her boyfriend when they went. At first it felt a little childish, but after their conversation at dinner the month before, it seemed completely them. _

_ With her excitement at its maximum, she rushed around the dressing room backstage gathering her things quickly after she had changed. She ended up choosing to wear a dark blue mid thigh dress with a fancy backing and a pearl white clutch. She had already seen Matt earlier in a dark blazer and black pants. They had planned to head straight from her performance to the show and then maybe hang out after. Casey met Matt by the back stairs as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. _

_ "You're so reserved." Casey chuckled after he had backed away. "You remind me of someone else, I can't really put my finger on who, but it's okay, there are only a few people moving around back here."_

_ Matt shrugged and looped his arm around Casey's back. As they headed for the exit, Casey's phone began vibrating inside her clutch and she stopped walking to retrieve it. After fumbling around with the bag, she finally swung open the phone and answered, not bothering to look at the caller ID. Immediately, an uncomfortable expression appeared on her face as her eyes got really wide. Nodding and muttering an almost monotone, 'yeah', she veered herself away from Matt, pressing her phone closer to her ear as to hear better. _

_ "Everything alright?" Matt asked after she had hung up._

_ "No, not really." Casey said. "My friend's apartment flooded and he needs a place to stay for a while." _

_ "Oh." Matt said, a little awkwardly. "How close is he to you?"_

_ Casey rolled her eyes. "He is just a friend, okay? But I really should go, you understand right?"_

_ Matt just looked hurt as Casey hurried off toward the door. It was still chilly outside as Casey swung open the doors to the performing arts center. She had parked far away incidentally and was rounding the corner when she realized that she had left her bag sitting backstage. Doing a 180, she hurried back inside as the frosty air nipped at her cheeks and exposed limbs. _

_ As she opened the door to backstage, she felt her stomach do a 180 as well. Matt was still there, and so was her dance teacher. 'Of course they were close, he works here', Casey thought to herself as she disappeared from their view. At first they were just leaning in, close to each other and brushing lips, but as soon as they heard the door Casey opened, bang shut they crept off into a prop closet. _

_ Casey leaned back against the wall and fell to the ground. Hands supporting her head, she let loose a few tears as the feeling returned. She didn't like the feeling. It made her uneasy inside and brewed thoughts that she hadn't even considered since Michael warned her about Matt. _

_ Forgetting the sight she had just witnessed, she pulled herself up, grabbed her bag, tore off her heels and ran to her car._

"It all made sense." Abby piped up as Casey focused in on reality again. "He never actually went to work. He went to see her." Adding inflection on the last word.

"Yeah. I suppose." Casey said yawning for the millionth time that night.

"You don't look upset." Abby said stating it like a fact.

"Guess not." Casey said nodding and standing up.

Abby tucked herself in, snuggling up to one of her teddy bears. "Hey mom?"

"Yeah?" Casey replied.

"Samantha from school says that if someone leaves your life and you weren't upset about it after, that you never really cared about them."

"I did care." Casey said giving her daughter a stern face.

"Just not enough then."

Casey nodded in approval before dimming the lights and shutting the door.

**Bye Matt! If any of that seemed confusing just ask me about it so I can clear things up. It seemed a little jumbled for me as I was writing it. **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you to all of you who follow this story.**

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

"Mom! Mom! Wake up."

Casey turned over onto her side while laying in her rather empty queen sized bed. Barely letting out a groan, Abby took this as her signal to continue.

"I have been thinking about your story ever since I woke up this morning and I know you said you wanted to sleep in, and it is only Sunday, but I waited a full hour before I couldn't take it anymore!" Abby relaxed back onto the floor beside her mother's bed as she collected all the air she had just released from her rather long and continuous speech she had told to her mother.

Casey strained her neck to look at the small digital clock on her bedside table. With another groan she sat up and patted the bedding beside her. Seeing this as her invitation to climb up, Abby did so and turned expectantly to her mom. Finally Casey spoke. "It's 8:30 Abby."

"Yeah I know." Abby said looking down in shame for split-second before becoming hyper again. "All I wanna know is who's apartment flooded the night Matt cheated on you."

Casey looked taken back at Abby's bluntness but answered her anyway. "We weren't in an exclusive relationship, so he technically didn't cheat-" Casey was cut off by Abby.

"But you assumed he wasn't seeing anyone else and you were pretty upset at the time right?"

Casey simply nodded still rubbing her eyes from just waking up. "I am glad that I ended our relationship though." Casey added in, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing up. "It wasn't healthy. I am going to have a shower now. If you get something to eat and get dressed before I come out, I will consider continuing the story before tonight."

Abby's eyes lit up as she bounded off the bed. The sound of bare feet hitting the wooden floor gave Casey the incentive to start running the shower. As the small beads of hot water hit her face, Casey shook off the irritating feeling she faced every time she was alone. The feeling wasn't new to her, but she hadn't thought about it that much. That was until she started telling Abby the story. Now the feeling of being alone and still aging left Casey with an unsettling thought of eternal loneliness. She did date sometimes, but being an only parent left Casey with little time to worry about guys. Her life had little time for anything else but work and being there for Abby. On countless occasions she faced the overwhelming want to visit her mom and George and the others in London and where ever else they had traveled to, but the thought of running into her step-brother was too much for Casey.

Back in the living room, Abby waited pleasantly with a few bread crumbs on the edges of her mouth. Casey sat down beside her and wiped them away. "Shall I continue?"

"You shall." Abby smiled back.

_Once the tears had stopped or at least decreased inflow, Casey started up her car engine and pulled out of the arts center parking lot swearing silently under her breath. By the time she had reached Michael's apartment-_

"It's Michael!" Abby piped up, back to her regular and explosive self.

"Yes." Casey chuckled. Abby just smiled and remained quiet to let her mom continue.

_By the time she had reached Michael's apartment it was completely dark outside and a couple vans were parked outside of his apartment complex. Casey halted to a stop outside his entrance and ran to meet him with a worried look on her face. He was sitting casually against the curb with some bags beside him and his hockey stick._

_"What happened?" Casey asked completely ignoring their previous stalemate._

_At first Michael looked hesitant, but seeing the concerned look on her face, he explained. "I came back from practice and apparently the people that lived above me and my room mate left their water running and it leaked into our place. It's not near as bad as the place above ours, but the walls are soaked. Most of our furniture is fine." He said pointed at a truck around the corner, "But it's gonna__take a bit of time for people to fix it. There are insurance things to take care of as well."_

_Casey nodded along slowly. "So you called me?" Casey asked incredulously wondering if he was still mad at her._

_"You were the only one I could think of. I would of asked my team mates, but most of them live in school dorms and the ones I know well already have room mates." Casey looked as though she was about to speak before Michael finished what he was saying. "My room mate? He found someone to stay with. Once I told him I had found someone to call, he left."_

_Casey didn't know whether to comfort him or just stand there awkwardly. Looking down at Michael was something she didn't do very often. Sticking out a hand, he took it and pulled himself up._

_They didn't exchange very many words after the short talk and instead just followed a set of directions for getting Michael and his belongings over to Casey's apartment. As Casey drove over to her place she couldn't help but wonder why Michael hadn't mentioned Matt or her dress. She would have pondered over why Michael hadn't noticed her tear stained eyes, but figured it was too dark for him to see them anyway._

_Both of them too tired to put Michael's bed back together in her spare room, Michael fell asleep on the couch fully clothed in his last day's apparel. Even though there were a million things running through her head, Casey fell asleep within minutes of falling under her light cotton sheets._

_A bright luminescence caught her eyes as she sat up in annoyance. Her blinds had been opened without her approval and the door was wide open letting more light in from the kitchen._

_"Morning princess." Michael said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, still ticked off from her display at the café__._

_Giving in to the intensity of the light around her, Casey got up and grabbed her towel as she stalked off to the bathroom. Running the shower, she undressed and stepped in as the water, first a little chilly, heated up fast. Still in her own world, she sang along to the radio as it blared from across the bathroom sitting on the counter top near the door. After shampooing her hair and ready to move onto the conditioner, the hourly news began on the current station as she let out a groan. 'Why couldn't they just play music?' She asked herself as she stepped out of the shower, going to change the station. About halfway over to her radio, she saw the slow turn of the door knob and freaked out running back into the shower and behind the dark navy curtain._

_Just as she had feared, Michael came in casually with his tooth brush and tooth paste and began running the tap._

_"Excuse me!" Casey whined._

_"What's up?" Michael asked holding back a laugh. Clearly not over their fight, he had returned again to his former high school attitude for the time being._

_"Get out or I'm kicking you out!" Casey yelled as she realized the power she had over him._

_"Alright, alright." Michael complained, setting his tooth brush down and turning to leave. "Just one more thing though that I want to request."_

_"What!" Casey snapped up to her maximum level of patience._

_"Can we get a new curtain for the shower?"_

_Casey stood under the water confused. She looked up and down the curtain for any rips or mold spots, but saw none. "I don't understand." Casey finally replied._

_"I just don't want you barging in on me while I am showering and seeing me like that." He said giving it his all towards his rather unconvincing 'innocent temperament'._

_Casey gasped wondering whether he was telling the truth or trying to get under her skin._

_"Out!' She screamed again. He put his hands up defensively and backed out of the bathroom almost tripping over the mat under his feet._

_If she weren't so tense, Casey would have giggled, but considering the circumstances, all she could do was breathe heavily and try to relax again. First however, she got up and locked the door and then proceeded to check and see if the curtain was really see through. As a sigh of relief spread over her at the fact that the curtain was definitely not see through, Casey scorned herself for not being careful and remembering that she was living with someone now. However temporary, her casual living habits had to stop._

**This next chapter should be fun to write... Casey explaining to Michael about her fall out with Matt and of course the return of their friendship. I wasn't sure of how Michael would be after all the events that happened thus far, but decided that if Michael was under stress and uncertainty, he might resort to his old immature behavior if he felt like he was losing sight of his world.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry for the wait but I was on vacation in another state, so my resources were limited. No joke, but there were two roads almost one after another where I visited (Via de Ventura and McDonald Dr.) Anyway, knowing me, I automatically connected that to a Dasey coincidence. (One letter off on each one to instead say Venturi and MacDonald) Anyway here's the next chapter.**

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

_The day rolled on like usual after that. Michael was out of the house before Casey finished her shower and as if he wasn't even there, (ignoring the mound of bags in the foyer) Casey returned to her normal schedule. Classes were fine and even though the daunting finals were approaching, she managed. Leaving Inorganic Chemistry and heading straight for the hospital was still a drag, but the routine had been established for months now and it became a rehearsed chore, rather than a painful thing not to be looked forward to. It wasn't until she passed through her door that night, that reality hit her; hard._

_ "Michael!" Casey screamed before turning around and locking the front door._

_ "Hey, Case." He said nonchalantly. "Hope you don't mind, but I made a few adjustments when you were gone."_

_ Casey looked up at him partly shock and partly mesmerized. He of course, was just strolling casually through her apartment with only a towel around his waist and small water droplets cascading down his shoulders from his soaking wet hair. He approached Casey very slowly, noticing how caught up she was with him at the moment. Before she could even utter a word however, Michael smiled devilishly, leaned down and shook his head back and forth spraying a mist of water over Casey. With a shriek Casey bounded towards her bedroom trying not to look back as she stormed off. _

_ Like clockwork, just as she entered her room, another scream echoed throughout the apartment. As if he was expecting her, Michael stood content outside of her bedroom waiting for her return._

_ "Where is my bed?" Casey asked, bright red. _

_ "I sold it." Michael said holding back a laugh as Casey leaned in closer to him with her hands up ready to swing. _

_ "Where is your bed then? I saw that you have unpacked everything and moved some furniture in."_

_ "I sold it." Michael shrugged. Unaware of what to do at this point, Casey started pacing uncontrollably as she talked furiously to Michael and herself; her words barely discernible._

_ "Look Case." Michael said cautiously holding onto her shoulders, "I bought new and bigger ones!"_

_ Casey still didn't look convinced. If he bought new beds, then where was her 'new bed'? "Where are they?" Casey asked stepping past Michael and searching the small apartment. Before he could answer, Casey had found her way into the guest room where a huge king size bed sat between rows of cluttered boxes and bags still on the floor. _

_ "You sold our beds to-" Casey tried to yell as Michael covered mouth. _

_ "Casey, Casey, Casey." Michael said still keeping his hand over her mouth. "I got you a bed too, it's in the living room."_

_ Ripping his hand off her mouth, Casey stalked back to her living/ dining room only to see a new couch and TV set up, but no new bed or big box with a possible bed in it. _

_ "Let me guess, you sold my TV and sofa to buy new ones too? Michael, leave!"_

_ "Wait just a sec. Princess." Michael walked over to Casey still fuming. "Your old and rather small TV is in the closet, that one there is mine and I did sell your sofa, but..." Michael stepped up to the new leather couch and started pulling the cushions off. "It's also a pull out bed!"_

_ Without warning, Casey jumped on top of him, tackling him to the floor as she hit him with what __ever objects she had closest to her. Clearly in very little pain and almost enjoying the show, Michael laughed sitting himself up as Casey jumped back realizing he was still in a towel. Gaining composure Casey spoke again, this time with more control than her previous riots. _

_ "Look Michael, this isn't your place and this isn't your stuff. I will not be sleeping on the pull out couch and you will not be living here anymore." Michael just sat on the ground with a puppy dog face, putting his hands together in a begging motion._

_ "Fine, you can stay." Casey finally said giving in." But you get the sofa unless you want to return this and get our stuff back... On second thought, you sleep on the sofa and I will sleep in the king bed in my room, okay?"_

_ Michael was obviously pained by this but gave in at the thought of paying for a hotel room for the next few months. _

"So he really sold your stuff? I don't know if I like Michael either. Please let the last guy be awesome!" Abby shouted standing up and throwing her hands in the air.

"Don't judge." Casey said turning a little red. "I will finish off this part of the story so I can introduce Ryan tonight."

"Okay. Go on."

"So with Michael's help, I moved the kind sized bed into my room and then helped him unpack his things in the guest room. For the first few weeks, things got better. He wasn't so impulsive and I think he started to forgive me for my behavior earlier on that year."

_Casey helped Michael into his coat and grabbed the car keys on the counter._

_ "Why do we have to take your car?" Michael asked, fighting Casey on everything at the moment._

_ "Because I am driving and my car is better." Casey scoffed._

_ Ten minutes later, Casey pulled into the Kingston General hospital with Michael sitting unhappy in the passenger seat._

_ "I really don't think it's a big deal." Michael said._

_ "It's been hindering your hockey for weeks and you couldn't stand straight for an hour this morning. I seriously think that hockey is too abusive."_

_ "Get over it Casey, I am fine."_

_ "MacDonald." The nurse called out as Michael got up with Casey from their seats in the waiting area. They followed the nurse back to a small room where she weighed Michael and measured his blood pressure. Finally, a doctor came in and shook hands with each of them._

_ "Hi, my name is Dr. Kay. You must be Michael MacDonald." Dr. Kay said smiling up at them._

_ "No! I am the MacDonald. I put my name down on the waiting list, that's all. He hasn't been here before, but his back has been killing him-"_

_ "Thanks Case." Michael said stepping in. "I think I got this, you can go wait out there."_

_ With a huff, Casey got up from her seat and closed the door on her way out. Sitting in a blue cloth chair across from the exam room, Casey twirled her hair in her fingers. Sure, she cared about Michael a lot and she felt some what responsible if he really injured himself here. What would she tell George?_

"George?" Abby asked confused. "Grandma's George?"

Caught in her tracks, Casey stumbled before saving herself. "No, another George." Abby nodded and motioned for Casey to continue.

_When the door finally reopened, Dr. Kay stood up as Michael began to leave._

_ "What happened?" Casey asked, straining her head to see if Dr. Kay had heard her. _

_ "It's only a minor injury, but if he wants to continue playing hockey, he should sleep in a better bed. Pull outs can be alright for a little while, but the activities Michael is in and a pull out bed combined can lead to serious problems."_

_ Casey turned to Michael who was as serious as ever. "Did he put you up to this?" Casey asked turning back to the doctor._

_ Dr. Kay looked back puzzled before chuckling. "No, he didn't, but I heard of your predicament and I suggest you sell the couch and buy another bed for your situation. You should not be sleeping permanently on a pull out either if it's true that you dance Miss MacDonald."_

_ Casey looked from the doctor and back to Michael as she wondered exactly what Michael had told him in there. 'Did they talk about me?' Casey wondered._

_ The warm air hit their faces as they exited the hospital one behind the other. Michael had been prescribed some pain relief pills and a note saying he was fine to return to hockey. He was quite happy. No more pull out bed for him._

_ "When you feel up to it, I need you to take the couch back and sell it for a double for you to sleep in." Casey said over her shoulder. _

_ "Ha!" Michael snorted. "And what about the king size bed?" Casey gave no reply as she unlocked her car and swung open the door. "You win actually princess, I can't sell it yet, or I will lose too much money and not be able to buy another bed. Do you have any money saved up?"_

_ Casey just laughed quietly as she turned to face Michael in the car. "I f you haven't noticed, I work at a low paying job and own a 30 inch TV."_

_ "Well, I don't have much surplus either, so I guess your sharing with me!" Michael said waiting for the retort from Casey._

_ Within seconds she was of course in panic, accidentally shifting into neutral instead of first gear. Fussing with the stick shift, her mind began racing, thinking of all the unreasonable and inappropriate effects of this decision._

_ Luckily, before she was able to cause a car accident, Michael spoke up feeling slightly guilty. "Look Case, if you need the money and don't want this situation to last long I can rehire you at the Café. We can save up the money together and you can keep your king size bed. Believe me, I don't want to deal with the sleeping arrangements any longer than you do." _

_ Casey nodded, her pulse slowing down and breathing now intact. "Thanks. I won't have any stupid boyfriend to screw it up this time."_

_ Michael smiled slightly to himself. Casey was all his for now; Kind of._

**So I didn't take them into talking about Matt, but you will understand later. I felt like I was ranting, I hope not. Thanks to those of you that read my author's notes as well.**

**Read and Review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry for taking forever to update. School has kept me pretty busy lately. But I finally stopped procrastinating and wrote the next chapter.**

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

_ Casey woke the next morning almost falling off the bed. She rolled over a little farther to edge herself completely off the bed and grabbed her towel and a change of clothes. When she returned fully dressed and ready for class, Michael was still snoozing in bed taking up most of the bed, laying diagonally across with half his body under the sheets and half above. Casey subconsciously smiled before closing the blinds to the bedroom and closing the door.  
>The night before had been a tad bit awkward for the two of them, though she admitted it must have been worse for Michael. Casey had fallen asleep around 9:30 to wake up for class early the next morning while Michael had stayed awake watching TV for who knows how long. When Casey had woken up in the middle of the night, thirsty, Michael was laying on the other side of the bed sleeping quietly with the duvet pulled up to his shoulders. It wasn't until morning that the heavier sheets had been pushed back and the lighter ones barely covering his bare chest and gray sweat pants. <em>

_ The door was open and her books were in hand when Casey realized she was way too early to leave for class. Sitting back on the couch with a huff, Casey suddenly felt restless. What if Michael came out? Would he just groan and retreat back to his guest room? Or would he take a shower and face Casey in that state again? Shaking off the risky thoughts, Casey stood up and looked around hoping to straighten up or clean something close by. Thinking that there was sure to be a mess of food by his recliner or in the kitchen, Casey walked over and inspected both, surprised to see neither one of the target places dirty._

_ Finding herself in the kitchen, Casey prepared a peanut butter and jam sandwich and stuck it in the fridge to eat later. It was when the fridge door closed that she heard a door close somewhere else in the house. Sure enough, Michael was up and no longer in her room. Looking at her cell phone clock again, Casey sighed._

_ "Hey, Case, can I have this delicious sandwich?" Michael asked in the kitchen now._

_ "NO!" Casey screamed, following Michael's voice. _

_ Michael chuckled and went back to his room to grab his stuff for a shower. Casey didn't believe he wouldn't still eat her sandwich, so she took out a box of pancake batter and turned on the stove. In hastiness, Casey used all of the pancake mix for one pancake the size of the pan. She knew he would come back out there in a just a towel to bother her and make her uncomfortable. If she was able to finish making breakfast for him before that would happen however, all would be well. _

_ Slapping the Frisbee sized pancake onto a plate from the cupboard, Casey ended off the breakfast preparation with a glass of orange juice and a container half full of maple syrup. As the door to her apartment closed with a click, the shower running inside turned off, but that didn't matter to Casey, because she was now safe from Michael's prying eyes. _

_ Unfortunately for her though, she couldn't stop thinking about Michael's reaction to his breakfast the entire drive over to her English class. Imagining his jubilant, childlike face was enough to brighten Casey's mood. But sitting through a very important class thinking only of Michael also had the potential to lower her grade. Shaking her head and returning her train of thought to the professor's lecture only helped her temporarily as every bit of the book they were analyzing made her mind jump back to the past few weeks with him. They were pretty great. He had clearly changed since high school. Though his antics never fully left him, they were less bothersome and more endearing. Casey wasn't sure if it was fully because they were less immature or because they had grown on her now that her perception of him had changed. The only thing she regretted at the time was the seriousness of their situation, or lack there of. Casey of course had the strongest urge every time they watched TV, to bring up their past and to apologize, but he wouldn't let her. It was almost as if he knew what she wanted to say and didn't care anymore. She cared very much though. She even cared that he never brought up Matt and the night when Michael called after her performance, because leaving it as if it never happened made their current situation very unsettling._

"That's it?" Abby asked as Casey took a deep breath and stood up.

"Yes." She smiled. "If I continue even more, I will have to introduce Ryan and I promised you that I wouldn't bring him up till tonight."

Abby pouted and screwed up her face, but she knew Casey was done for now. She would have to wait till night to hear more. "I wonder what Michael was like during high school." Abby spoke after sitting in silence as Casey packed up Abby's school supplies and homework into a bag.

"He was a hand full." Casey replied turning back to Abby.

"Did you know you loved him back then?"

Casey blushed furiously leaving the room for a minute before Abby repeated the question.

"I think I knew deep down." Casey said to herself, "And the reality of it scared me very much. It meant my life could get even more complicated and I just wouldn't settle for that."

**Thanks for reading. Next chapter is already typed up and I will publish it in a few hours hopefully. **


	13. Chapter 13

**So I lied, I am publishing this chapter way later, but that's because I couldn't decide what I wanted in it so rewrote it a lot. **

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

Casey dimmed the lights on Abby's room as Abby snuggled up into her enormous purple pillows and stuffed animals. "More story?" She asked Casey pleadingly.

Casey chuckled and nodded sitting down at the end of her bed. "Where was I?" She asked rhetorically.

"You just finished off talking about how you secretly loved Michael, but couldn't come to terms with it."

"I don' think so." Casey said giving Abby the most exaggerated expression back.

_Casey's favorite soap opera softly resonated from Michael's TV as she started fading off to sleep. Even when Casey could stay up later, she never was able to unless Michael was home. Unfortunately for Casey tonight, Michael was at a hockey game. It wouldn't be for another two hours until Michael got home and saw Casey snoozing on the couch. It wouldn't be another 120 minutes until Michael would come home and dump his bags lazily on the ground at the front door out of utter exhaustion, but carry Casey to bed anyway. With a faint smile he would realize that after his shower and after he had changed into his Casey 'Acceptable' night wear, he would be laying down beside her; well two feet away, but same thing. _

_ Michael barely caught Casey the next morning before she was ready to head out the door again. "Where are you going this early on a Saturday princess?"_

_ "It's 11:00 am, Michael! It's not early." She replied._

_ Michael shrugged and waved bye anyway as he yawned again and closed the front door behind her. About five minutes later he received a text that she was going to eat with her friends then go and attend a lecture called Freakonomics. _

_ She lied though. She didn't go to lunch with her friends, but instead went to visit Matt to resolve some unfinished business. Casey felt somewhat pained to lie to Michael about it, but she knew it would only make him upset. It wasn't until 11:30 that Casey stood outside Matt's front door with a knuckle to the wood. His place wasn't too far from Casey's but she had spent at least 10 minutes circling the cluster of streets around his until she got up enough confidence to approach. _

_ He opened the door quickly as he was talking quite adamantly on the phone with someone else. "Yes, I will have it ready. Look, I have a guest here okay. Shouldn't be long, call you back in five." _

_ "What do you need Casey?" He asked very rudely as if he forgot what he had done to her._

_ "I just came by to finish things off officially and make peace she said."_

_ He laughed haughtily before responding. "Make peace Casey! You're the one who just randomly stopped calling me and hanging out." He said angrily._

_ "You were making out with my dance instructor!" Casey yelled still in his doorway._

_ "We weren't monogamous!"_

_ "You prick!" She screamed even louder causing a few people to come out of their apartments. _

_ "Just come in." He said pulling on her shoulder, obviously embarrassed._

_ "No!" She yelled louder. "If you really cared to help this relationship at all you would have called me too! I think you just wanted out. God, Michael was right, you are just a douche!" _

_ Casey stormed away with Matt losing all restraints. Casey knew he was calling her names as well, but she didn't listen. She knew he was accusing her of cheating with Michael, but she didn't care, he was officially a waste of time. _

_ Almost crying and distraught, Casey drove over to the lecture hall where the speech was to be given. Casey had signed up for it months ago and was only going now because she already requested a spot to be there and it was a big deal to her. These things interested her and they only came by talking __about their book every few years. It was so big that they had to limit it to college students only. Of course, the only thing about that, that made her happy was that Matt couldn't be there; not like he would actually be interested in intellectual things of the sort. _

_ Taking a seat a few rows up, Casey sat attentive as tons of people filed in. There were at least 40 rows in the lecture hall and about 50 seats across. Casey couldn't imagine 200 people being as interested in this type of thing as she was. But there were. Twenty minutes before the lecture was to begin, the majority of the seats were taken and Casey could recognize about 40 students from various classes. She turned to her right and introduced herself to a group of girls that were seniors at Queens and had attended one of the Freakonomics speeches before. For the next 15 or so odd minutes they did nothing but praise the work and it's insight. Finally the mumbling hushed and a man in his early twenties approached the front. He was quite tall with brown hair and luminescent eyes. He smiled every time he paused and even though he only briefly talked about the subject before the main speaker went into debt, Casey could have sworn he cracked the code for time travel._

_ By the end of the one hour lecture Casey had agreed with the talkative senior girls and was very pleased for coming to the lecture. It almost made her entirely forget about Matt. As she gathered her purse and headed for the door she saw the young speaker standing by the front by himself watching the students pass. On any other day she would have been crazy to approach him, but today, after her run in with Matt, she felt empowered. _

_ "Hi, my name is Casey." She said sticking her hand out to the young man._

_ "Hi, I'm Ryan." He said taking it and shaking her hand graciously. _

"I knew he was gonna be Ryan!" Abby yelped interrupting Casey's story. "Sorry mom. Won't happen again." Abby replied giggling.

_"That was really great." Casey said back motioning towards the podium where he spoke._

_ "Thanks." He said shyly. "It was my first introduction, I was very worried I wouldn't do well."_

_ "Well you did!" Casey said beaming. "And it sounded super smart." She winked._

_ He laughed sincerely. "I hope so."_

_ "So how did you get into this line of speaking?"_

_ "Actually, I am a business major here at Queens, but I like to dabble in other hobbies." He said warming up to Casey._

_ "Well I would like to know what else you dabble in." Casey said, astonished at how well she was doing. By this point with any guy, it usually took a turn for the worst._

_ "I think we should." He said smiling back and looking at Casey with his dark blue eyes. "Here." He continued, exchanging numbers with Casey."You should expect a call tomorrow inviting you for coffee and possibly a sandwich. Say yes because it will be awesome."_

_ "Okay." Casey said laughing softly. "I can't wait."_

_ Walking away Casey felt like jumping up and down, but refrained from doing so as to not look like a complete dork._

_ When she got back to the apartment, she was so happy that the sight of Michael's gym bag still at the front door didn't bother her. When she had reached the kitchen, Michael stood beaming with a pork roast and salad set for two on the table. _

_ "You look happy." He said, motioning to the food._

_ "I am." She answered back causing Michael's smile to widen. _

_ "Oh. Thanks for making dinner." Casey answered back. "I almost didn't notice, my time at the lecture was very satisfying."_

_ Michael looked away for a second before looking back at Casey a little crestfallen. "Oh, you had fun at the lecture of course. Enjoy the meal." Michael responded taking a seat. "It only took me an hour to prepare." He said sarcastically._

_ Casey brushed off and started eating, rethinking the days latter events._

"I think he was hurt that you didn't pay more attention to him." Abby pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Casey asked, snapping back into reality.

"Well, he made you this grand dinner and all you can say is how awesome the stupid lecture was."

"Hey!" Casey retorted. "It was a really good one."

Abby fake yawned before responding to Casey. "Look mom, all I am saying is that maybe there was more to Michael than what you previously thought."

"Maybe." Casey replied back. "Maybe."

**Not my best, but I didn't know how to properly get that last point across with the dinner that Michael made. Hopefully the thought of why he made it for Casey comes to mind. ;)**


	14. Chapter 14

**I finally got enough time to continue the story and am happy to say that it should be like, over half way through I think.**

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

Casey yawned as she contemplated Abby's words. Did she really just blow Michael off like that?

"Hey!" Abby hollered in front of Casey as she day dreamed, "I only have like, half an hour till bed and I want to learn more about this Ryan guy."

Casey chuckled endearingly taking Abby's chin in her hand and kissing her forehead. "Alright girl; 30 minutes of undeterred Casey drama."

_Casey sat quietly in the living room reviewing her books for finals; the taste of Michael's meal lingering in her mouth. Just as she was opening her British Literature book, Michael's voice spoke from behind her in the kitchen._

_ "Hey Case," He said somewhat solemnly. "I'm gonna head out. I promised I'd hang out with this girl my friend wants to set me up with and I think I will now." _

_ "Mhm." Casey replied back immersed in the 18__th__ century piece of writing._

_ Michael shrugged closing the fridge and grabbed his jacket from the back of the couch. His hand was almost on the front door knob when he realized he had left his phone plugged into the charger in Casey's room, so he went back to retrieve it. _

_ Casey's hand was flipping the pages below her when a shadow appeared, cast on the other side of their apartment front. Frozen, Casey stared forward as the shadow paced in front of their apartment. It was disturbingly silent and then the lock on their front door rattled as if someone was trying to break in. Scared out of her wits, Casey leaped off the couch and ran to her room where Michael was checking the battery power on his phone. _

_ "What the hell!" Michael yelled as Casey ran in slamming the door and gripping onto the leather of Michael's black jacket. _

_ "I think there is someone out there trying to break in." She said in a fragmented statement. _

_ A new sense of seriousness appeared on Michael's face as he looked down at Casey and then towards the door of her room. Grabbing one of his hockey sticks, Michael left Casey's room and headed for the front entrance to their place. Moving the shades away he saw someone enter another apartment a few doors down, but no one else around. Setting down his stick he came back to Casey's room surprisingly not peeved at all for the false alarm._

_ "It's okay." He immediately spoke as he entered her room. Sitting down on the bed beside her he rubbed her shoulder repeating senseless jabber about it 'being nothing' and 'probably just her overactive imagination'. Despite his comforts she still seemed shaken up as she had never pondered the possibility of an intruder and how to protect herself. _

_ "What happens if there really is someone?" Casey mumbled in panic mode._

_ "I am here, okay. I will gladly beat the hell out of them." Michael said with a straight face. _

_ "But when I am alone, surely, later on in life." She said with a quizzical look masking her fright. _

_ Michael hesitated as there was no right answer to her question. All he believed he could do at that point was try to compensate for her and get her to relax. Fretting about every 'if' situation was no life to lead for one Casey McDonald. _

_ "Don't worry about it Case." Michael soothed holding her close with an arm over her shoulder. "There wasn't anything to worry about in the first place."_

_ Standing up quickly Casey began pacing around the room as Michael sat helpless on the bed. "What will I do?" Casey kept asking herself out loud. "I will have no one and I won't be able to stop anyone."_

_ After a minute or so of Casey breaking down mentally, Michael reached his boiling point. "Look Casey!" He said loudly standing up to tower over her. "You won't be alone! Everyone knows that. You will find a guy that meets your expectations and he will be there for you always. He will cook you dinner at night when you come home from your million dollar job. He will watch your dance performances whether they be in the living room of your bound to be gorgeous house or at a New York theater! And he will be there if an intruder tries to break in and/or harm you."_

_ Casey sat down in awe as her breathing slowed and her eyes became watery. At a loss for words, Michael spoke for her. "I'll be right outside your room watching TV." And then he left. _

**This is only half of the chapter, but since the rest is rather long and not finished, I figured this was a good break off point for now. **


	15. Chapter 15

**As promised, the rest of Ch. 14. Now referred to as 15 I guess :/**

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

_Without realizing it, Casey had fallen into a heavy sleep as she lay on her bed softly whimpering; her lost desires and possible failures still fresh on her mind. Sitting up still in her day clothes, she glanced at the clock on the side table. After registering how late it was, Casey sprang up wondering where Michael was. Stumbling out into the living room, still dazed and weary from recently waking up, Casey hit the side of the couch with her foot and accidentally yelped in pain. Surprisingly her loud scream did not wake Michael as he lay on the couch; snores barely audible from Casey's close proximity. At first Casey thought of going back to bed and leaving him there, but the advice from the doctor lingered in her mind and maybe the thought of sleeping by herself in the large bed seemed lonely, but the latter thought just made her embarrassed. _

_ Kneeling down beside him, Casey nudged him, but to no avail. Sighing she sat back yawning and make quick glances to the front window again, still suspicious about any intruder. _

_ "Come on Michael." She said half halfheartedly, leaning her head on the front of the couch and closing her eyes. Barely refraining herself from falling asleep again, she instead got lazy and rested again the soft leather of the couch. She knew time was flying by, and she heard the occasional noise of water in the plumbing or creaks from the neighbors, but besides that, her mind was glazed over. It must have been five minutes before movement shocked Casey as a large hand started smoothing her hair down. Realizing quickly it was Michael, the fear of it being a burglar vanished from her mind and her currently relaxed disposition allowed herself to continue to lay there._

_ "Casey Casey." Michael began as Casey started thinking he was actually talking to her. "You really leave me thinking sometimes. You act like you have your whole life together and then times like last night and just a little while ago when you ran into the furniture..." He continued chuckling to himself and sighing. _

_ In a awkward situation, Casey faced the decision of sitting up and possibly admitting that she heard his admission or continuing to lay there limp with her eyes shut. As to avoid him ignoring her again, she chose the latter and secretly hoped for him to continue. Sadly he did not though. Sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the couch, Michael stood up and hoisted Casey into his arms as he carried her back into her room bridal style. Casey couldn't help but develop a controversial thought as he did this, but shrugged it off as her head hit the side of a pillow. Feeling safe, Casey opened her eyes lightly taking in the light that now occupied the room. Michael was gone for the moment, but was sure to return. What Casey didn't expect when he did though, was for him to only be in his boxers. 'What is he doing!' Casey thought in her head. They had a rule of what he could and couldn't wear to bed and this was definitely not one of the things he could. Realizing she couldn't suddenly wake up to uphold, Casey sat helpless on the right side of the bed as Michael tucked himself in; his bare arm and shoulder skimming Casey's momentarily. _

_ Casey woke the next morning with an arm draped over Michael's chest as he snoozed silently as always; his hair floppy and messy. Sitting up, Casey kept a gaze over him for far too long. When she snapped out of her own crazy thoughts she became obsessed with his hair. Maybe it was because he never let her touch it when he was awake, but at that moment on a slightly over cast morning, Casey thought Michael's hair was the most curious thing in the world. _

_ At first it was a poke, her fingertips barely stringing the surface. Then after he made no sound or movement it was almost like a pet of a dog; gliding over the top. Eventually she threw caution to the wind and ran her fingers through its thick volume. It was surprisingly clean and smelled of shampoo and wash. After moving her hand through it, his hair took the shape of her movements which caused another spark of inquiry. By the time Michael finally awoke, his hair was spike up in the front and the sides were matted down as if copious amounts of hair gel had been added. Thankfully Casey had __managed to slip away before he noticed his weird hairdo. _

_ "What did you do Casey!'" Michael screamed minutes later as Casey was sitting down at the table in the kitchen gripping a bagel in one hand and a knife with jam piled on it in the other. Making an indiscernible mumble full of bagel crumbs and jam pieces, Casey looked up trying to hold in a giggle as Michael approached her; his new hairdo barely in tact._

_ "You messed it up." Casey fake whined after chewing everything that was in her mouth. Michael pointed obscenely towards his hair and shook his head with a small smile trying to make its way onto his face. _

_ "You look adorable." Casey said getting up. Placing her food and knife on the plate below, Casey reached up and scuffed up Michael's hair more before his hand came out to pull it away. _

_ "No touch." Michael warned._

_ "You're such a girl about your hair." Casey laughed._

_ "Really? I don't suppose you would mind if I messed up your hair." Michael warned before running his hands through Casey brunette locks, tossing it every which way as pieces fell into her face._

_ "Stop stop!" Casey finally relented. _

_ Michael made a face of success and smirked._

_ "But I am a girl if you haven't noticed." Casey said in retort. _

_ Michael stood back for a second before blurting out his next statement. "I've noticed," his eyes lingering too long._

_ Usually Casey would be the one to stalk off, but she didn't, she just stood there._

_ "Well, I need to go get dressed." Michael spoke, obviously aware of the optimum level of awkwardness now occupying the kitchen. _

_ "Ye-yeah." Casey replied soon after. "I should finish, my jam, my bagel. You know... breakfast."_

_ "Good plan." Michael said back as he nodded and backed away slowly, before turning to head to his room. _

_ "Hmm." Casey said out loud to herself as she picked up her utensil. Just as she was about to take a bite out of her bagel, her cell phone rang and Ryan's name came up on the caller ID. Caught out of the blue, Casey picked up her cell, almost having forgot of their meeting the day before._

_ "Hey Casey." Ryan's voice spoke on the other end._

_ "Hi. Uh, Ryan." Casey said swallowing the lump in her throat._

_ "So I promised that we would get coffee and a sandwich, but instead I offer this." Ryan began, building up the moment. "A friend of mine is doing a stop motion project for one of their classes and needs volunteers. Would you do it with me?"_

_ Casey thought about it for a second before realizing that this was in fact the extremely handsome and very smart speaker from yesterday that she had hit it off with. "Yes. Sounds interesting, I'll come." _

_ "Cool." Ryan replied. "Let's say... The quad in an hour?" _

_ "Mhm." Casey mumbled. "See you then."_

_ Jumping up, leaving her partially eaten bagel on the kitchen table, Casey started on raiding her closet for cute early afternoon clothes that would be perfect for the 'date'. After ten minutes of deciding and being picky over the slightest imperfections, Casey settled on a pair of dark pants and a colorful short sleeved top that flowed over her shoulders delicately. After applying a little bit of make-up to her face and fixing her hair, Casey made her way back out into the kitchen. She almost expected Michael to interject at some point, but as she stepped outside of the apartment and saw her un-pranked car sitting in the parking lot, Michael was neither heard or seen. _

_ Casey was early of course; twenty minutes early. The grass was still wet from the dew of morning and most normal students weren't out yet or at church or some other Sunday morning function. The few that did pass weren't in that wandering state of walking, but appeared to have a set target or place to get. While people around her kept a one track mind, Casey's skipped from one to __another; almost dangerously. 'Was Ryan going to be as awesome as the day before and would he meet Casey's expectations,' were the first things to come to mind. After the initial anxiety of the approaching 'date', Casey's mind traveled to her finals that were fast approaching, her job she was lucky to get back and the Michael. It wasn't his antics or frustration that came to her, but the good qualities in him for once. His humor, his relaxed demeanor, and his body. Casey knew it was somewhat wrong to have the latter thought, but the logical side of her brain always seemed to pop up for a few minutes before her rational brain kicked in to set her straight. _

"Sorry about this." Abby apologized preemptively, "But why is it so wrong to like Michael?"

Casey sat on her daughter's bed stumped. It seemed like ages to Casey before any sort of answer came to mind, but in reality it was just seconds till she replied back that "I thought I disliked him a lot and I couldn't stand his bad attributes."

Abby gave a somewhat confused look before shrugging and accepting her mother's weird ways. "I guess if you work that way mom. But if I liked a guy that I thought disgusted me, then I might think to myself, what disgusts me about him and what do I find turns me on."

Casey choked on Abby's last words and quickly jumped back into the story.

_It was exactly 10:30 when Ryan showed up, a minute or so ahead of schedule. _

_ "Were you waiting for long?" he asked, looking concerned._

_ "No, no." Casey lied taking in his still attractive appearance. The day before he had been in somewhat formal wear, but today he wore a pair of light denim jeans and a Queens shirt with sneakers on. _

_ "Good." Ryan smiled, his eyes lighting up as he did so and a small dimple etching itself in on his right cheek. _

_ "What?" Ryan asked as Casey stared at his face. "Do I have something on face?" _

_ "No no." Casey laughed. "You just have this little dimple." Casey finished, pointing at his face and touching her finger to his cheek where the skin sunk in slightly. _

_ "Oh." Ryan said embarrassed. "I have had it forever."_

_ Casey walked with Ryan around to a park on the other side of one of the main buildings where they met up with Ryan's friend Zachary._

_ "Hi." Zachary said holding his hand out to Casey, "Name's Zachary; just Zachary, nothing shorter."_

_ Casey nodded somewhat confused as Ryan changed the topic and began talking about stop motion photography to Casey._

_ "So, just stand here with me." Ryan said moving Casey over by a tree where the were to shoot most of the video._

_ Casey followed Ryan over and tried to mimic the pose that Zachary suggested. Placing one hand on her hip and the other at her side all Casey had to do was stay still while Ryan's pose changed. As if the world was in a slow motion, Casey noticed that Ryan was beginning to attempt the magic trick where flowers randomly pop up in the magician's hand. Due to having to keep the same pose, Casey wasn't allowed to smile till the fake feathered flowers eventually popped up._

_ After at least 250 shots Zachary called from behind them that they were allowed to move freely now. _

_ "Magic?" Casey asked blushing slightly._

_ "Just another thing I dabble in." Ryan replied back. "Just you wait; I have way more ins tore for you."_

**Thanks for reading. Feel free to add a review. Any encouragement or critiques always inspires and helps. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

_ As Casey drove home around lunch, she was somewhat hoping that Michael wasn't there to ask about where she went or who she was with. It was as if her life with Michael was best to be kept separate from everything else. As she wished, his car was not parked out in front of their apartment complex when she returned. Making her way to the door she quickly noticed something peculiar. At her feet, the 'Welcome Home' mat was flipped over with the rough underside facing up. Casey brushed it off though, suspecting it to be a troublesome neighbor or an accident of some sort. It wasn't until she entered the apartment that she realized that the mat being flipped wasn't at all an accident._

_ Starting first with the TV, she began turning most of her furniture right side up. She was amazingly efficient and by the time she hit the kitchen, only a short amount of time had gone by. Without her screaming at Michael, a ton of energy was conserved which could be used constructively. Thankfully, he hadn't gone and flipped the bed, but he did somehow manage to turn a bunch of his personal stuff upside down as well. This made Casey smile. Many times in the past Michael had pranked her to set a rouse, but surprisingly this time, he wasn't in the house to get his satisfaction and it had effected more than just her stuff. As her smile widened, she heard a key being fumbled with in the lock and she turned to walk out of the bedroom just before his feet had made it inside. Deciding it would be rather humorous, Casey grabbed a close by water bottle and splashed some water in her face before continuing the stunt and rubbing her eyes quickly till they were red. Kneeling down on the floor, she withdrew all of her acting skills and began to fake cry. It didn't take long for Michael to notice once he entered the room. _

_ "Oh come on Case!" He whined not ten seconds in. "Why do you have to cry?"_

_ Casey kept the masquerade up longer and continued to bury her face in her hands making sobbing noises and deep sighs. _

_ "Look; it was just a joke Casey." He explained rather tirelessly, "It wasn't even mean spirited. I can fix it if you really want me to." And that's when he noticed it; all the furniture was turned over back to its normal position already._

_ Spinning around to face the other rooms, Michael stopped his blabbering and was about to speak up again when Casey jumped on his back squealing in laughter._

_ "You should have seen your face," Casey began. "You were all-"_

_ Michael interrupted before she could mock him. "You know I hate it when girls cry, it's so annoying." He rolled his eyes._

_ "Sure," Casey replied, rolling her eyes back at him. "Maybe it's because you can't stand to see me in pain." _

_ "Yeah right." Michael breathed closing in on her face. Hovering in front of her forehead, he blew a strong gust her way as it caused her hair in the front to fly up like a kite in the breeze._

"Okay. That's it for tonight." Casey sighed as Abby frowned.

"I'm not even tired." Abby complained.

Casey shook her head and stood up to turn off the lights.

"Goodnight." Casey spoke putting emphasis on the 'good'.

Casey found her way quickly to the living room where she plopped herself down on the couch. Bringing back such tender memories made her feel dizzy inside. It wasn't only nostalgia that got to her, but the feeling that she messed up somehow.

Somewhere in her thought process she had sauntered over to the kitchen's liquor cabinet and poured herself glasses for two. Proceeding to finish them promptly before refilling them, she toasted to an open room with her self pity enveloping any dignity she still had at that moment of intoxication. Casey didn't drink much, but when she did she got hysterical. There was usually some crying involved along with outrageous laughter.

If being drunk off of a Christmas present three years ago from her younger sister wasn't bad enough, the home phone just happened to be cradled nicely on the stand just two feet away from her. Grabbing it forcefully, she dialed up Abby's father and waited two rings before a low voice spoke over the other side.

"Hello?" The man's voice spoke again, clearly confused as Casey hadn't responded yet.

"Hello." Casey answered slurring the last letters.

"Who is this?" The voice asked as the time of calling was past respectable hours.

"No one." Casey responded.

"Okay..."

"I know who you are!" Casey said excitedly.

"Who?" The man responded playing along with his patience growing thinner.

"Ducky." She said settling down.

The man coughed, whether it was on purpose or not could be considered. "I see. Hi Casey, how have you been."

"Good." Casey lied.

"Listen, I'm gonna ask that you go drink a lot of water and then go to bed. I have a lot on my mind and I'm afraid I don't have time for one of your antics. I thought you had moved past this years ago."

"I thought I had too." Casey responded, a little more sober sounding than before. "What's got you busy?"

"Not like it's any of your business, but I am having troubles keeping my large corporation afloat and problems with my apartment." He ranted. "Plus, my girl friend was in a bad car accident last week and she broke three bones, so I need to tend to her most days."

"Oh." Casey said somberly. "If it's none of my business then why did you tell me?"

"I don't know." He replied. "Goodnight Casey."

Casey held the phone close sighing. By the time she responded, he had hung up and she sat there wondering how long he had had a girlfriend. If not that, how many girlfriends had he had since they last talked. This brought up the worry that she might have been better off to mention that he had a daughter. She could almost picture their perfect family. She could almost picture herself saying 'yes' as he kneeled down beside her with that small black box in his hand. But every time she saw this, a sharp pain shot through her which caused a sense of foreboding and possible regret to pulse through her and right there she knew she had made the right decision. Turning down the wrong decision had never been her problem however; it was choosing the right one that always got her.

**I know that some want longer chapters, but that just means less updates and I usually keep the spacing there for a reason; not just random cut off points.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

Casey sat at the breakfast table across from Abby the next morning looking even more hurt than the night before; if that was even possible. The funny thing about it was that Abby knew what was ailing her mom the moment she walked in ten minutes earlier and the even stranger part about it was that she didn't even need to say anything. Before she had reached the table where Casey sat, the bags under Casey's eyes and the slight waft of alcohol spoke louder than Casey's pained expressions and lethargic movements. With endearing glances Abby stared at her mom until Casey breathed a sigh and conceded. "Sorry for my behavior last night. I hope it didn't adversely affect you." Casey spoke in an air of dignity and knowledge.

Abby stood up and walked over to her mom, hugging her when she had made her way to the other side of their small apartment size table.

"Are you ready?" Casey asked less than 30 minutes later when Abby appeared coming out of her bedroom.

Abby nodded and Casey walked with Abby down to the lobby, around the corner, down three blocks and up another flight of stairs where Casey bid good luck at school and left.

It was strange for someone Abby's age to get walked right to the front of the school by her mom, but Abby knew otherwise. It wasn't for herself, it was for Casey. They both knew that. It gave her time to console her mother silently and the walk back to the apartment where Casey would continue to get ready helped calm her so to not enter work disheveled and grumpy. The walk back also however gave her time to wander, which for certain times, was beneficial and other times not. Instead of heading back taking the same route, Casey walked through a small park on the other side of a street lined with duplexes. Casey knew little about the location; only that it was pretty and she wished that she might someday be able to live in a place just as beautiful with the ideal type of family which she saw roaming through the park's intertwining paths and water run offs.

When she had cleared the park she made her way to the street and started walking home. It was odd going north to her home instead of east like usual. The park was longer than she remembered and she quickly realized that she had gone too far in one direction. The beautiful residential buildings springing up around her made her envy this section of the city even more. The places around her were beginning to become more familiar to her when she saw him entering one of the tall glassy high rises with the multimillion dollar apartments. She knew it was him; it hadn't been that long. The rough hair and slim cheeks. But something was different. He was wearing a suit for starters and since when did he live in Toronto. The facts were confusing Casey and by the time she reached the building where he had entered, it was too late; he was long gone. The impulse to follow him in was only stopped when she noticed the need for an access card on the side of the front entrance and the tall and mean looking doorman.

It was barely noon when Casey received a call from Abby's school notifying her that she had come down with strep and that she was to remove Abby immediately as to not infect the other students. Shoving her cereal box designs in her bag and switching her client over to her cell phone, Casey slid out from her desk and made her way downstairs. The doors of the marketing agency swung open as Casey strode head first into the sea of people off for lunch.

"Yes, I realize that your team of cognitive psychologists has recommended that children react better to things they can touch, but putting an interactive cover on your cereal boxes is not in your budget... Think small." Casey persuaded her client as she made her way across town.

By the time she reached Abby's school she had finished her call and set up a time for Abby to see her doctor later that afternoon.

"Hey mom." Abby greeted as Casey took her backpack off her shoulders and walked with her back to the apartment.

"Were you feeling sick earlier?" Casey asked very concerned as Abby rubbed her eyes feeling the sunlight hit her face.

"A little."

"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling sick Abby?"

Abby looked down at the ground as if ashamed. "You didn't look good this morning. I just didn't want to make things harder for you."

Casey bent down and kissed Abby's warm cheek refraining from crying; partly out of guilt and partly from sympathy towards her daughter.

"Hey mom." Abby started as they stepped inside the lobby. "Were you crying about dad again?"

Casey nodded.

"I assumed." Abby's whispered as if saying the statement softer would ease the pain. "Can you continue the story before we go out again? I want to know what happened."

Casey looked taken back.

"I feel like I am missing part of your life story." Abby interjected before Casey could reply. "It's times like last night that remind me of the puzzle pieces I am missing with my life."

Casey nodded and almost felt proud for her daughter's inquiry and sophistication.

"Sure." Casey agreed. "I'll continue when you get upstairs and have drank a glass of water and sipped on some lemon juice.

_Casey sat at lunch the next day with a couple of girls from her Literature class talking over coffee. _

_ "So I haven't had enough sleep in the last week to really focus on the paper due by the end of the finals time slot." The girl with the dark red hair told Casey and another. "My room mate is so obnoxious and loud if you know what I mean." She finished winking._

_ Casey giggled softly as the light blonde girl sipped her coffee silently missing the innuendo that was slipped in between her friend's frustration. _

_ "Is it all right if I stay with you for a week?" The red head asked turning to Casey._

_ "I would." Casey began setting her coffee down, "but I have a room mate right now and I don't think it's the best time. He and I can be very odd and probably hard to put up with. Much worse than your loud room mate I am sure."_

_ Her friend across from her looked confused. "I didn't know you were living with someone."_

_ "Temporarily." Casey corrected. "He had a mishap with his old apartment. Though I am not quite sure on where his issue on living arrangements stands. I sort of feel obligated to help him."_

_ "Well don't then." the blonde said bluntly._

_ Casey stared awkwardly down at her coffee attempting to peer into the small dark opening at the top where her straw fit through and crawl in. _

_ "So what? Is he a friend? A little more than a friend?" The red head nudged Casey in the arm._

_ "I don't really know right now." Casey replied truthfully._

_ "Well look here." The girl said showing Casey her phone and bringing up a website on it. "I read in an article that there are body movements to tell how someone feels about you. If they face you with their entire body then they like you, if they just turn their head, they might not. If they touch your arm or anywhere above the wrist they might like you as well."_

_ Casey almost choked on the hot and steamy liquid as she looked up at her friend dumbfounded. "I am not dating or anywhere near dating the guy." Casey admitted somewhat. "It's not like that."_

_ "I thought you said that there was possibly a guy in your life?" The blonde asked jumping into the conversation._

_ "Not him, another one." _

_ "Then try the body language test on him." The red head pleaded._

_ "You know how different people can be and what if he is doing an activity. It would be odd to just turn his full body around to talk to me."_

_ "Just try it." The friend urged as Casey got up and threw away her empty cup._

_ Walking back home Casey didn't know how much credibility she could put into this 'test'. She knew that Ryan at least tolerated her to say the least, but did he really like her?_

_ She continued this train of thought all the way back to the apartment where she heard Michael blaring music from his computer. With a quick idea, Casey decided to test some of the theories on Michael to see just how much faith she could put into the test. _

_ "Hey." Michael said as his handed flew up in the air making the lamest attempt at a wave Casey had ever seen. Casey stood a few feet behind him and scrolled through the article her friend had forwarded her. 'His pupils will expand when he first catches sight of you' Casey read in her mind._

_ "Hey Michael." Casey prodded again, but to no avail as Michael remained fixated on the screen in front of him. Knowing him best, Casey leaned against the back of the couch standing behind him waiting for his song to end. When he clicked the stop button on his iTunes and spun around in his swivel chair, Casey focused in on his eyes but was not close enough to see if they had gotten bigger. Reverting to another test, Casey stuck her arm out and asked Michael to see if there was any discoloration where she had banged it. Much to her dismay again, Michael made no attempt to touch any part of her arm and instead annoyingly inquired how she had hurt it and if it was okay now? _

_ Resorting to the last and cheesiest test, Casey started up a conversation about music as to keep Michael interested and paced around him keeping an eye on his feet and body to see if it moved with his eyes. Surprisingly enough every time Casey moved even a fraction of an inch, Michael turned slightly in his chair as if he was the inner leg on a compass. Then Casey brought up another topic, one far less interesting, and continued her experiment getting the same results. Intrigued, Casey walked off to consider his actions as Michael absentmindedly returned to his laptop without knowledge of the test ever taking place. _

_ Sitting in her room on the bed Casey began to break down. 'The rules of the test didn't apply here, did they? He was cheating using a swivel chair for Pete's sake!' Casey thought. When she eventually tired from criticizing the results, Casey called Ryan up on the phone. _

_ "Hello?" He asked on the other side._

_ "Hi, it's Casey." Casey spoke. "do you wanna catch dinner and a movie this Friday... Great, I'll be ready by 7:30." _


	18. Chapter 18

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

_"Hey." Casey greeted Ryan._

_ "You look really nice." Ryan said as he turned around to face her._

_ Peering closely into his eye, she noticed the dark center expanding quickly. Blushing profusely Casey grabbed her purse and closed the door behind her. _

_ "So." Ryan said putting his hand on the small of Casey's back and leading her ever so softly. _

_ "Huh?" Casey asked completely withdrawn from the conversation focusing on his body language. 'He already has done two of the things the article said' Casey thought surprised._

_ "Like I was saying." Ryan began as he opened the car door for Casey, "I had another surprise for you... I don't know if you will be okay with it, but it's sort of a movie and dinner combined."_

_ Casey's face lit up as Ryan bashfully shoved his hands into his pockets. _

_ "It sounds great." Casey beamed stepping in and ducking as to not hurt her head. _

_ "So what are we seeing? I heard Saw VI was good, but I don't think I can eat while watching that." Casey admitted thinking about the combination._

_ "No, no." Ryan laughed starting up the car and backing up. As his head turned to the side to see if the road was clear behind him, Casey turned to face him and their noses barely graced the others before shyly retreating. _

_ "sorry, uh." Ryan blinked._

_ "Like you were saying." Casey said recovering._

_ "Right. I am sort of obsessed with 80s movies because they were always played on TV when I was a kid. And then I watched them when I was older and loved them as well."_

_ "Oh. I didn't know that. Well I have only seen Breakfast Club, but I am sure there are more great ones."_

_ "Great! Well I guess you will recognize a few brat pack members then. Anyway, I saw that they were playing older movies at the theater this week and got us tickets to Pretty in Pink."_

_ "Pretty in what?" Casey asked confused. "And you like this movie?"_

_ "Yes." Ryan laughed playfully shoving her shoulder. "I am guessing you haven't seen it?"_

_ "Yes." Casey said adamantly. "I never saw them on TV."_

_ "Well I saw them when I was like twelve years old which means you would have been eight. So it makes sense if you haven't."_

_ Casey felt a slight tinge in his tone but ignored the thought all together as he turned to her and smiled. _

_ The theater was small and located farther from campus then what Casey had anticipated. The outside had older architecture, but the inside contained modern woodwork and silk lined walls. Casey recognized no one and assumed most were town folk. The man that took their tickets also led them to their seats and asked if they would care for anything to drink at the moment before their waiter came. _

_ "Sure." Ryan responded to the man in his late twenties. "I will have a chardonnay and you?" _

_ Casey stammered before saying just a water. "I'm sorry." Ryan told Casey a minute later when he realized that she wasn't old enough to drink._

_ "I turn 19 soon though." She stepped in. "So next time we go out I will hopefully be old enough to drink. But hey... I can drive just in case."_

_ Ryan nodded leaning back in the large recliner like seat. _

_ "Do these have foot rests?" Casey asked interested._

_ "Yeah I think. Kind of weird right? It's not like we are actually at home. I really don't find it proper to do in a theater where people are eating. Don't you?"_

_ "Yeah." Casey muttered thinking of Ryan's complete opposite in the current situation. "But I mean, if they don't disturb anyone, I don't see why they-"_

_ "Shh." Ryan interrupted. "The movie is starting."_

_ "It's just previews." Casey said under her breath as their actual waiter brought out their drinks and handed them the menus. Casey took her concentration away from Ryan and scanned the laminated two sided paper. _

_ "We will share the Vegetable Pizza." Ryan told the waiter before Casey could even decide on what she really wanted. _

_ The waiter took their menus and left behind them._

_ "Hey." Casey said in a quiet scolding voice._

_ "What?" Ryan asked turning to her quickly before reverting back to the screen that was still playing other movie previews._

_ "Did you have to order for me?" Casey said louder, still peeved._

_ "I know you love that type of pizza though. The first day I met you, you were talking to some friends and you said that you loved vegetable pizza."_

_ Surprised, Casey sat back in her seat watching Ryan stare at the screen with the light illuminating his strong chin and blue eyes. Casey had been so apprehensive so far that she soon realized how picky she was being. 'He payed attention to what one of my favorite foods was; I should be happy about that.' Casey thought to herself. _

_ They came out of the movie smiling and laughing about an hour and a half later doubling over as others looked on in confusion. "I am not like Andie!" Casey yelped as Ryan tickled her from behind._

_ "You are so." Ryan responded, taking a breathe and standing erect. "If you are Andie then I must be Blane."_

_ "Ew. The pretty rich kid?" _

_ "Yes." Ryan retorted grinning. "Who else could match this?" _

_ "I think you are Andie's best friend; the one she rejects."_

_ "Are you saying that you are rejecting me?" Ryan asked is disbelief following along with the charade. _

_ "Haha... No no no. But you are the guy that keeps on getting rejected by Andie. I can totally see it." Casey said holding out her hand for his keys as he had drank three more glasses of alcohol earlier._

_ "Fine, fine. I concede. I'll be him. As long as you're Andie and I can keep dreaming of you." Ryan said staring at Casey for what seemed like hours._

_ Finally Casey broke the stalemate and unlocked the car. "You are drunk. You know that?"_

_ "Most definitely Casey. I am 100% aware of that, but my statement still stands. _

"That's it?" Abby asked. "You're gonna leave me hanging here?"

"You're sick remember? I need to get you to the doctors and then, if it's not too late I can tell you more later." Casey stroked back Abby's hair and helped her up.

The streets weren't very crowded when Abby and Casey left so the taxi ride to the doctor's office was quick and prompt. Sure enough, Abby had caught strep throat somewhere and was advised to take medicine for a week and return to school after her temperature had dropped back down to normal for at least one day.

"Where are we going?" Abby asked as the two headed back to the apartment in the taxi. "Don't we have to pick up my pills?"

"Yes, but I am going to a different pharmacy." Casey replied keeping an eye on the street in front of the car, making sure the driver took her to where she wanted to go exactly. When the car came to a stop and Casey had paid the man, the two girls were in the middle of a beautiful residential area that was all too familiar for Casey after the scene with the man that had run through her head many times since.

"I have to check something before we stop by the drug store at the end down there." Casey said pointing to a small building with a bright sign and a semi-brick exterior with the word 'Rexall Pharmacy' on the front.

Abby nodded and watched her mother closely as Casey walked up to a tall and shiny building and ran her finger down the list of the residents' names until she drew in a sharp breath and walked away in a hurry till the two were four or five buildings down.

Abby knew something was up, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She wanted to sprint back to the building to see what the fuss was all about, but she didn't want to seem nosy and coming back another time would seem like the most logical step.

It was dusk when the two arrived back at the apartment with Abby's medicine after stopping by the deli on the corner to pick up some dinner.

"Are you gonna continue your story?" Abby asked between mouth fulls.

Casey nodded having just taken another bite of her turkey, cheese and tomato. After finishing off their dinners, Casey retreated back to her room to get ready for bed as Abby did the same. It seemed like the times when Casey was completely alone that left her pondering over the day's events. He was definitely living in the city; a few blocks over even and it had never occurred to Casey that he even existed after college. 'Would it be foolish to try to talk to him?' Casey wondered as she pulled a long shirt over her head and situated it over her torso. The silly thought left her mind as a knocking came from the door and Abby asked if she was ready to continue. With a 'yes' from the other side, Casey finished getting dressed and walked across the hall to continue her life saga with Abby; a tightness entering her chest as she realized how close she was coming to one of the most important decisions she had made in her life so far.


	19. Chapter 19

Definitely, Casey (Cont.)

**-From last chapter**

"**Are you gonna continue your story?" Abby asked between mouth fulls. **

** Casey nodded having just taken another bite of her turkey, cheese and tomato. After finishing off their dinners, Casey retreated back to her room to get ready for bed as Abby did the same. It seemed like the times when Casey was completely alone that left her pondering over the day's events. He was definitely living in the city; a few blocks over even and it had never occurred to Casey that he even existed after college. 'Would it be foolish to try to talk to him?' Casey wondered as she pulled a long shirt over her head and situated it over her torso. The silly thought left her mind as a knocking came from the door and Abby asked if she was ready to continue. With a 'yes' from the other side, Casey finished getting dressed and walked across the hall to continue her life saga with Abby; a tightness entering her chest as she realized how close she was coming to one of the most important decisions she had made in her life so far. **

* * *

><p><em>Michael heard the car door slam shut and soon the door open as Casey stepped in, red faced with a glow of euphoria across her face.<em>

_ "Good time?" Michael asked politely; almost too politely if Casey could have guessed. He was sitting cross legged on the couch with his cell phone in one hand and the TV remote in the other._

_ Casey nodded 'yes' and made her way to the couch plopping down beside Michael. _

_ "I called." Michael said in a monotone type voice as if all emotion had been drained and there was no inflection in his words. He stood up to return the remote to its basket and sat down again quite phlegmatically. _

_ "Oh." Casey answered back just turning her phone on then and seeing the screen flash with '3 missed calls'. "I'm sorry; I was busy. Was it important?"_

_ Michael stared at her for almost a minute tempting Casey to repeat herself in case Michael had possibly not heard. But then he did speak and whether it was Casey's hazy memory or Michael, being well, not very Michael like, he said. "I miss you."_

_ Casey couldn't help but let a small chuckle out, but forced it back in when his face remained frozen in a tight frown._

_ "I'm serious Casey." _

_ Casey back up a bit scooting to the other side and propping a pillow up on her lap to lean on. "I have only been gone for a few hours." She replied not even looking him in the eyes but instead burying her face into the cheap embroidery of the couch's pillow set. _

_ "Not to me." Michael said staring off into space now with a slight glaze over his eyes as if he were looking back into his thoughts rather than the mantle with the fake fireplace in front of him. _

_ "What were you calling about?" Casey asked again._

_ "We have the money," Michael answered. "We have enough for another bed." He almost sounded depressed about the concept of excess money. _

_ "Oh. Cool." Casey said less than thrilled; partly from the atmosphere of their conversation and the realization that they would in fact grow further apart than they had in the recent weeks passed. "Are you gonna order one? It is for you right?"_

_ Michael sighed. "I will soon. It's inevitable I suppose."_

_ Casey gulped at Michael's unfamiliar behavior and decided that depressed and gloomy did not look good on him. But all she could do was stare, because she knew why he missed her and before the memories of the past weeks with Ryan flooded in, she missed herself too. _

_ They sat on the couch the rest of the night with the TV on with low volume, almost muted, and an uneasy feeling in the air. Casey was surprised to see Michael drift off to sleep first and when she __soon realized she was doing the same, she opted out of getting up and going to her actual bed and fell sideways on the couch with her head on Michael's chest letting his soft and steady breathing ease her into sleep. She swore the next morning that she had cried at least once in her sleep, but the any remnants of tears were gone or wiped off._

_ Finals approached faster than anything that coming month and Michael and Casey spoke less and less. The bed hadn't arrived yet, but Michael started making it a habit to fall asleep on the couch and after the first night of falling asleep with him, Casey desired the comfort of a mattress. _

_ It was two weeks before the end of the year and Ryan was knocking on Casey's apartment door bearing interesting news. Unfortunately for Ryan, it wasn't Casey that answered the door, it was Michael._

_ "Hi." Ryan said waving nonchalantly in Michael direction. _

_ Michael nodded to his presence, but didn't welcome him in._

"I wasn't there." Casey side noted to Abby, "but this is what Ryan told me later."

_ "Hi, I'm Ryan."_

_ "Ryan. What do you need?" Michael asked._

_ "Casey. Is she here?" Ryan said very nicely trying to peer into the apartment for Casey._

_ "No." Michael said shaking his head._

_ "Oh. And who are you?"_

_ "Michael." _

_ "Oh. You live here?" Ryan asked looking at Michael closely._

_ "Yes. Casey and I live in our apartment in our bed and more importantly our home." Michael said emphasizing 'our' every time._

_ Ryan looked reproachful. "I just thought..." He said stepping back. "Never mind. Bye."_

_ And Michael shut the door locking it._

"What the hell!" Abby screamed.

"Language Abby!" Casey reprimanded as Abby looked antsy to continue.

"Sorry mom. But did Michael really do that?"

"Something along those lines yes. I found out later that he was inviting me to go on vacation with him that summer, but I never got to go."

"Is that it for Ryan?"

"No." Casey laughed lightly. "Not at all. Just for the summer till he gets out of his anger fit and actually picks up my calls right before term starts again."

"So did what Michael say cause Ryan to be angry with you?" Abby asked.

"Of course it did. I couldn't say that Michael was lying, but it made me seem like I was lying to Ryan."

"Were you mad at Michael later?" Abby looked up with heavy eyes and yawned.

"Yes I most definitely was, but I didn't know what he had done till the fall."

"Oh! Okay. Continue." Abby said making a waving motion with her hand.

Casey chuckled and dived back in.

_"Who was that?" Casey said stepping out into the hall from her bedroom with a short dress and heels for going out later with her friends. _

_ "Just some guy trying to sell magazines." Michael lied, "What are you wearing?"_

_ "A dress." Casey laughed lightly at Michael's ignorance._

_ "Hah! You are gonna go out like that?" A sudden shock hit Michael like deer in the headlights._

_ "Yes I am." Casey said brushing her hair as Michael watched her brunette waves fall from her shoulder. _

_ "No you're not." Michael was abruptly stern and Casey was not in the mood._

_ Casey brushed him off and went back to retrieve her purse. When she tried to emerge he was standing at her door, brows furrowed, with a look of intensity. _

_ "I'm serious Casey. Just change into something respectable."_

_ "No." Casey said trying to get by, but incapable because of Michael standing in the way. _

_ "Just change Casey." He was getting tired of arguing; it appeared she had won._

_ "No. Now move!" Casey pushed him back but his grip on her door frame was tight._

_ "Take that slutty dress off! What would Ryan say?"_

_ Casey had had enough. "Fine, you want me to change?" Casey screamed at him, fire burning in her eyes. "I will." She said pulling the short black number over her head and discarding it on her bed as Michael stood by gazing inappropriately. She stood at her closet in her underwear as she shuffled through her closet finally finding a slightly longer blue piece with a jeweled belt. _

_ "You gonna get out so I can change?" Casey asked trying to keep composure after the brash actions she had just taken._

_ "Uh, yeah." Michael gulped backing up slowly and shutting the door. "I thought you already were."_

Abby erupted in a ball of laughter as she looked at her mom and imagined the mystery man standing at her mom's door caught in that awkward situation.

"Oh. You're laughing?" Casey said. "You have no idea how inappropriately horrible that was."

"Not really." Abby said messing with her bed sheets as she wrapped the ends around her fingers. "I don't really understand why you didn't just jump him."

Casey hiccuped in surprise forgetting to scold Abby for her language as she thought about the prospect of it, but pushed it out of her mind quickly.

"Alright. Alright." Casey said trying to get back on topic. "Just let me continue."

_It was just Michael and Casey during the summer as Casey's mom and family was on a cruise and Michael's family never thought he would be interested in their summer vacation as he never seemed to anyway. _

_ Casey repeatedly tried calling Ryan, but he never picked up the phone and when she visited his apartment, his roommate said he was out of town. This really hurt Casey when she started thinking that he was avoiding her and that their building relationship was nothing to him if he would just leave and not talk to her. Michael was surprisingly comforting about it and took Casey out to eat after her last exam. _

_ "So." Michael said as they sat down across from each other at the high end restaurant Michael had took Casey to. "How does it feeling being halfway through college." _

_ "Surprisingly scary actually. In just two years I will have to face the real world and I don't think I can handle it." Casey responded looking down in fear._

_ Michael laughed. "Gosh Case. If anyone has this stuff figured out it's you." He said stroking her forearm that was extended across the top of the table. After a few seconds he pulled back when her eyes shot up. "I am sure you will do fine."_

_ "You just seem like you aren't afraid of anything." Casey said looking expectantly at Michael._

_ Michael didn't respond but the prospect of being on his own and not having Casey to count on made him want to crawl up cry. But he would never admit it. _

_ They didn't speak much after their food came and when the bill came out as well, Michael took it in a flash not allowing Casey to even suggest going dutch. _

_ They were walking back to Michael's car which was located a few blocks down due to it being so crowded around the popular restaurant, when Michael approached Casey while waiting for the cross walk to allow them to go._

_ "I have to tell you something Case." Michael said stepping closer to her as the cool and pleasant summer breeze ceased to blow by between them._

_ "Yeah. What is it?" Casey said looking up into his intense eyes barely covered by his messy brown air._

_ "I don't know how to put this." he said stumbling over his words before finding them as if they __had been on the tip of his tongue for years. "You think I am not afraid of anything?" It was rhetorical statement. "I am Case. I am. For starters I don't even know what life will be like without you in it everyday."_

_ "I bet you will get by." Casey said leaning against the light pole as Michael moved closer._

_ "I know, but it won't be the same. I think..." he said putting a hand on the pole behind her head, "that I might possibly be-"_

_ He couldn't complete his sentence as Casey held the back of his head in one hand and covered his mouth in the other, his lips still trying to release his message to the world, or more like that dark corner in downtown Queens. After pulling him into a hug she withdrew her hand and then hugged him again, overtaken with emotions and confusion. _

_ "It's so easy for you knowing what to say.." Casey mumbled._

_ "I didn't say anything." Michael spoke softly into Casey's hair. _

_ "You might as well of."_

_ "But..." Michael tried._

_ "Saved by the little white flashing man huh?" Casey said stepping back wiping a stray tear and starting across the street as Michael stood alone on the corner. _

_ Casey was leaning against his car when he caught up after missing the first light. It was strange after that. They didn't dare mention what had gone down on the ride home or later that night as they watched a movie on the couch, but things were definitely strange; even more so, different. _

_ They were watching a favorite of Michael's, __Top Gun__, and as Casey lay against Michael's side as he combed her hair with his fingers, there was a new aspect to their relationship. The only problem was that this new aspect was not a resolve, but a complication. They knew it existed; both of them. And their plan was to plow through it as if it never had been presented; hoping things would just figure themselves out. _

_ "I love this part." Michael said as Maverick maneuvered his plane while the popular score played in the background. _

_ Casey nodded in agreement. "I like the ending. It's happy."_

_ "But the best parts are the the lead ups to the end." Michael responded._

_ "I beg to differ." Casey replied reaching up taking Michael's hand off her head and placing it beside her on the couch. "I can't wait for the ending." _

**AHH! I haven't written in so long. School really sucks. **

**Hello Winter Holidays :)**


	20. Chapter 20

Definitely, Casey

-From the last chapter

_**Casey nodded in agreement. "I like the ending. It's happy."**_

_** "But the best parts are the the lead ups to the end." Michael responded.**_

_** "I beg to differ." Casey replied reaching up taking Michael's hand off her head and placing it beside her on the couch. "I can't wait for the ending."**_

* * *

><p><em> It was two weeks into summer vacation and Casey and Michael were going through their daily routines. Michael had told Casey that a new bed had been ordered, but the money that was set aside for a new bed had not been withdrawn. <em>

_ The days passed usually consisted of waking up a few hours later than during school and starting the day off with either a shower or breakfast depending on who was up first. This meant that Casey and Michael never really saw each other until they ended up in front of the TV or at lunch if one of them did something else or went somewhere in the small time frame. The caf__é__ was closed for the summer so they were temporarily out of work, which led to an exceeding amount of free time. Whether either of them acknowledged it or not, they tended to play this back and forth game; almost tempting each other as an escape from boredom. _

_ The morning of Casey found herself propped up in bed, not able to fall back to sleep. Michael was out like a log, breathing so quietly Casey considered whether he was still alive, but the continuous depressions in his chest told her he was. Looking around the room, then back at Michael, she sighed. She was quite comfortable in bed at the moment and leaving it to get a head start on the day seemed too proactive for the summer. She giggled at her laziness and fell back as her head barely missed the head board and landed on her pillow. _

_ It didn't take long for her to grow restless from laying down, so she sat up again realizing that only three minutes had passed from what seemed like forever. She felt like a little kid again; waiting for someone to entertain her and bring out a new toy. She looked down at Michael again and smirked. Poking him in the side so he would wake up, she hovered over his body letting her long hair brush his forehead. Within a few seconds his hands began swatting her away and then his eyes shot open unwillingly. Looking up, he came into view with Casey's bright eyes first; followed by her mischievous grin._

_ "Nice try Case." He said holding back a chuckle. "I'm not falling for it."_

_ "It was worth a try." Casey said pulling back the covers._

_ "Yeah, but it just wasn't good enough."_

_ "Oh. I'm sorry." Casey said sarcastically turning to him, "I didn't realize you were an expert on it."_

_ Michael turned away from Casey for a second, then swung his head back around with this deep stare; his pupils huge. "I am an expert." He said placing a hand on Casey's thigh below her pajama shorts and leaning over top of her causing her to fall back on her pillow. _

_ Casey stared back as if in a trace and couldn't produce any words. As his face zeroed in on her's, Casey could feel her body tightening up. Just before he made contact, he blew a light breeze above her forehead in her hair and jumped back sprinting for the bathroom. _

_ Casey grunted in displeasure, only partly from getting tricked so easily. How was it that he could do that to her and whenever she tried, he'd just laugh or act all dramatic, pretending that she was actually effecting him. It bothered her almost as much as not getting the shower did. She knew that she would never live it down if she couldn't trick him at least once, but even in the morning he was alert. _

_ Not very hungry at all, Casey sat in thinking of what to do. When the shower tap clicked off ten __minutes later, she knew just what to do._

"What are you gonna do?" Abby asked.

"It's a surprise." Casey said shaking her head at Abby, "I don't know if I should tell you though."

"What!" Abby started up in protest.

"Relax." Casey said putting a hand on Abby's arm. "I will tell you, but you have to promise to not say anything inappropriate like you did last time."

"Okay."

_Casey couldn't help but smirk at lunch that afternoon. She could just see her plan going down perfectly. She tried not to jinx it, but she was excited._

_ "What are you happy about?" Michael asked Casey who hadn't realized that all she was doing was grinning instead of eating her sandwich in front of her. _

_ "Oh, nothing." She lied._

_ "Alright Casey. If you say so. Because to tell you the truth, I should be the happy one. You should have seen you face this morning." Michael chuckled as parts of turkey hung out of his mouth._

_ Casey scowled and looked away in disgust._

_ Scooping the meat back into his mouth, Michael waited till Casey had turned back around to continue talking. "Don't get mad. I am just better at it. You know there is always a way to stop all this."_

_ Casey looked down at her suddenly unappetizing food. It was all fine when it was just a game, but the thought of it becoming more made Casey unsure and she couldn't face it. So many questions that weren't easily answered popped into her mind and before half of her food was even gone, Casey picked up the plate and took it to her room. Michael thought about calling after her, but decided it was best to let her cool off. _

_ In her room, Casey considered not going through with her plan that night. But looking out of her room at Michael sitting quietly with his food made it seem so harmless. This was Michael she was talking about. Everything would be fine. He would probably have that 'in a trance' look that Casey always had and then he'd laugh and congratulate her. There would be mutual respect and the game would continue harmlessly. It would all be harmless. _

_ Michael went up to the store before bed to get groceries and Casey took the opportunity to get ready for her devious plan. Changing into something more appropriate for the situation, Casey sat around waiting for his impending arrival. _

_ It came almost ten minutes later when Casey had migrated to the kitchen for milk and left over food. He put away the eggs and juice and then went to his bedroom to get his pajama bottoms that he always wore during the warmer months. Once she was sure that he had gotten into bed, she followed him into the bedroom with her street clothes on still._

_ "Do you need me to leave?" He said nonchalantly flicking through a magazine on bikes. _

_ "No." Casey said trying to sound alluring, but failing horribly. Deciding she should just shut up, she took her jeans and top off and lay down beside him almost shaking from nervousness, but trying to keep up the act._

_ "Wha-" Is all Michael got out as he turned to face her, but looked away almost immediatley._

_ "What?" Casey asked in her best innocent voice which came to her naturally._

_ "Where is your little pajama outfit."_

_ "I'm wearing it." She responded trying not to smile. "I figured that since it is summer and you don't have to wear a shirt, I can go lighter."_

_ Michael gulped and turned to face the wall._

_ Casey's smile widened now that he was facing away from her. That was totally the face she was aiming for. Now she just had to wait for Michael to admit that her plan was clever, and things could go back to normal. But as Michael lay frozen on the other side, something wasn't alright._

_ Edging closer to him, Casey turned him over making him face her. "What's wrong?" She asked._

_ Michael stared at her, but tried looking elsewhere. How was this different than what he did to her? Truthfully it wasn't, but Michael couldn't handle it._

_ "This is wrong Casey." He said embarrassed heading for the shower._

_ Casey didn't know whether to be happy or alarmed. She had gone beyond expectation. Was he this compromised in the situation or was it the awkward factor that took him over the edge? Casey wasn't sure on either, but decided their game was dangerous and it had to cease. Toying with this side of themselves was just 'a disaster waiting to happen' in Casey's words, but 'the extra oomph that never seemed to come' in anyone else's. _


	21. Chapter 21

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

Last Chapter:

_Casey didn't know whether to be happy or alarmed. She had gone beyond expectation. Was he this compromised in the situation or was it the awkward factor that took him over the edge? Casey wasn't sure on either, but decided their game was dangerous and it had to cease. Toying with this side of themselves was just 'a disaster waiting to happen' in Casey's words, but 'the extra oomph that never seemed to come' in anyone else's. _

"Wow." Abby said falling back staring up at her ceiling in astonishment. "You guys were serious."

"Ahm..." Casey interrupted, "We weren't serious because we didn't date."

"Why didn't you just make a move? What was so wrong? If you loved him and he loved you, then why can't you be together?"

Casey thought about it for a second almost coming up with some rebuttals, but fell short because of her loss of words. "Waite. How do you know he loves; loved me?"

"I can tell mom. He cared about you. I know that for sure."

"On what level is what I ask myself all the time." Casey spoke softly, almost to herself.

"What happened next?" Abby asked yawning.

Casey felt tempted to end the story right there, but telling Abby some more of it almost helped Casey feel better about her past as well. "Well... Michael and I were very quite for a few weeks after that. Then he went on a small road trip to the States with a friend and in that time I moped and considered like you told me earlier, to make a move. But when he returned he was high off of life from the trip and he was sociable to me again and we were back to being friends so starting more drama wasn't an appealing outlook."

"Oh." Abby replied in a hush tone.

"Yeah." Casey said back looking around her, then down at Abby and finally to her hands where her eyes grazed over her bare fingers.

"What are you looking at?" Abby asked in a hushed tone still.

"Not looking; thinking."

"About?"

"Eh. Life and how some decisions affect us more than we would like them too. But I don't regret any of them." Casey whispered reaching down and stroking Abby's hair. "I am so glad that I decided not to go through with some of life's choices though."

"Waite. Why?" Abby said now alert.

"You, silly. If I would have went for it or acted as someone besides me, I wouldn't have you here to tell this story to and make dinner for and kiss goodnight..."

"And bring home from school sick?" Abby added. Casey nodded smiling and standing up.

"Get some sleep and if you wake up, go back to sleep again. I want you to get better, plus I need you better soon so you can go back to school and I can go back to work."

"Kay." Abby said pulling the covers up her shoulders. "Good night."

"Night." Casey said closing the door and shutting off the light.

Casey walked out into the kitchen and started cleaning for no reason. She knew she was just making use of her time, but even Mr. Clean couldn't get her mind off... Michael. Of course she knew that her past was set, but what if? As she sat down setting the cleaning product on the counter, she realized she had accidentally left out parts of her story to Abby. Either she had blocked them because they were bad memories or they had just slipped her thoughts. But now, as some of them came flooding back, it could be explained by both. One could have been blocked from her mind because she really didn't like the thought, but some were insignificant almost, and they didn't come up in her retelling. She wondered if people like her retold their stories a little differently than what really happened. She knew for sure that she didn't make anything up, but did she purposely leave out emotions or make others more prominent? If so, was it her inability to tell a story with credibility or was she leaving out the excess information? Eventually Casey decided that she would fill Abby in on the missing parts regardless. The story was a mystery to both Abby and Casey. Maybe these forgotten events would unveil more than what Casey had noticed on her own.

"Hey mom, can you check my temperature?" Abby asked as Casey lounged on the sofa with a warm tea.

"Sure."

Casey took the small rounded tip and stuck it under Abby's tongue until the device it was attached to beeped.

"So?" Abby asked in anticipation.

"100.7" Casey replied solemnly before chuckling. "Because I know every girl wants to go back to school as fast as possible."

"I just don't want you to miss a lot of work. I know that you have had troubles with that before."

"What do you mean? How?" Casey replied back in minor shock.

"I overheard you on the phone before talking to someone at work about being sorry for missing a couple days to take me to my dance recital in Montreal."

Casey's forehead scrunched and she shook her head. "Of course, you overheard. You are so nosy." Casey said reaching out and pulling Abby into a hug as she squealed.

"Well you won't be able to return to school just yet I guess."

Abby smiled lightly before plopping herself down beside her mom almost making her spill her drink.

"Did you need something?" Casey asked as Abby glared intently at Casey.

"Story." She responded quickly as if her rapid rate of speech would change Casey's answer.

"Sure." Casey complied. "Oh, before I forget. I realized last night that I left out three parts of the story for reasons beyond me and I have been thinking that I should tell you before we get farther along."

Abby nodded and waited patiently.

"The first was during the spring semester at school when Michael and I were on good terms."

_"Hey. I took out the garbage for you today since you didn't do it again." Casey said peeved as Michael chilled on the bed with a magazine._

_ "Uh huh." Michael responded, clearly not interested._

_ "Oh, and you had a bunch of junk in your suit case still. I know that there was at least an empty bag of chips and a billion gum wrappers in there besides the random out dated newspaper and cereal box cut out."_

_ "What!" Michael yelled jumping off the bed in terror. "You threw out my Mario Lemieux ad!"_

_ "Uh.." Casey was shocked by his sudden passion for a card board cut out. "Yeah, but why are you so upset?"_

_ "Casey!" He said standing up and grabbing her by the shoulders. "It's over ten years old. My mom gave it to me when she said I should go out for hockey and my dad wasn't sure because, well, I wasn't the biggest guy back then. But do you realize what you've done? It's rare Casey! I won't ever find it again! Where is it?" _

_ "I put it in the garbage bins outside this morning."_

_ "Damn!" Michael looked extremely distressed as he grabbed his head and paced around the room. "Casey!" He yelled again, looking less mad and more like he might cry. _

_ "What? I am sorry." _

_ "Sure you are. I am going out for a bit. Be back later."_

_ Casey stared at her feet. She brainstormed on how to make it up to him, but came up with nothing. The next morning when Casey had tried to get into the conversation on it and figure out why Michael was so angry, he shot her down and said it was nothing. It wasn't nothing, but life returned to normal quite fast. Casey never knew if he ever forgave her for that, but eventually the event became hazy and insignificant in her memory. _

"I think it was important." Abby said after hearing the short anecdote.

Casey looked winded as if she had returned to the past and witnessed the amplitude of distress from that night 13 years ago. "Why?"

"Because it's unresolved conflict."

"Maybe." Casey replied. "The second memory I forgot while telling you the story was at work at the café the second time I was hired. It was months after the previous event, but before summer."

_"So..." The girl who worked behind the counter asked Casey one day before work. "I want to ask Michael out, but I can't tell if there is something going on between you too. I mean, there is obviously something, but I can't tell if it's a something that I'd want to get in the way of, you know?"_

_ Casey gulped and started babbling. "There is nothing between me and Michael... We are just friends... If something is friends... And you're not stepping in anything here... Stepping in nothing but friendship."_

_ The girl nodded unconvinced as Casey bit her lip while tapping the cash register hard with her fingers. _

_ "I am just looking for your approval so I don't start up any work drama, it's the worst."_

_ "You don't need my approval." Casey responded with doubt on her face and her lip turned down. _

_ "Okay..." The girl said stepping back. "I will go ask him now before the customers come in."_

_ Casey nodded before mentally slapping herself before realizing that there wasn't anything going on between them. Wasn't: she told herself over and over. Still, she couldn't help but chew on her nails while waiting for her coworker to return. _

_ When she did however return, the girl never mentioned her actions and Casey thoguht rude to ask. Plus what would happen if she said that they were going on a date and that Michael really liked her. Casey couldn't stand the thought and went back to her nails. _

_ By the time Michael and her locked up that night, her nails were down to the bud._

_ "What's got you worried?" Michael asked Casey as he hit the lights._

_ "Nothing, what do you mean?" She responded in a calm and collected voice._

_ "You are nervous and stressed. You're nails have barely anything left and your left temple is red because you have been rubbing it all day. What's wrong?"_

_ Casey looked impressed at his little detective skills, but still refrained from telling him why._

_ "Fine, don't tell me." Michael spoke up after seconds of silence. _

_As they lay awake in bed that night, Michael turned over to face Casey's back and whispered, "I said no. I am not interested in dating her."_

_ Casey heard the whole thing, but refused to reply. Even though Michael was out of sight and made not another peep after his confession, Casey somehow knew that Michael was aware of her hearing this bit of information and its relevance to her nervous breakdown that day. _

"He liked you!" Abby shouted. "He was giving you a hint! Gosh mom! You are so ignorant!"

"I thought you were sick Abby." Casey replied cleverly as Abby settled down and rolled her eyes at her mom.

"I am. What is the third story?"

"It's less of a story and more of a detail I'd say. Do you remember me telling you about when I came home from my movie date with Ryan and Michael was acting really odd?"

"Oh, when he was upset at your next boyfriend, while he remained single for you?"

Casey sighed before replying. "Yes, that one. Well when I told you the story the first time, I knew I had cried in my dream, I just didn't remember what it was about until last night when I remembered."

"What was it about? Did Michael die? Were you guys mortal enemies in your dream?"

Casey chuckled lightly. "No, Abby. We weren't."

"Then what? Don't tell me something completely random like you saw a puppy get shot or the world was coming to an end."

"No, not that either. We were together as a couple..."

"That is great!" Abby interrupted.

"And our parents didn't approve and when we didn't listen to them, it caused a lot of arguing and eventually a divorce somewhere in there, though I barely remember that."

"Were you happy before?" Abby asked a little crestfallen.

"Before what?" Casey asked thinking about her real life as opposed to her dream.  
>"Before they disapproved in your dream."<p>

Casey smiled to herself. "Very."

**A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. A shout out to AshAsh52009, I never thought of my writing to be that good since it is just a hobby and to Dark-Supernatural-Angel for always reviewing; I know when I get my first email after I have updated this story that it will say "Review from Dark-Supernatural-Angel".**


	22. Chapter 22

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

Night came and Abby's temperature still hadn't gone down. After Casey's missed moments in her story, Abby began feeling ill again and Casey refused to continue knowing that Abby's health was more important than her previous romances. For once Casey stepped up as more than a friend to Abby; a motherly figure. Surprisingly, Abby didn't debate it and willingly set off to bed early dreading the make-up work for school that increased as her days away did as well.

Soon, Casey found herself pacing the living room fretting on how she was supposed to deliver her speech for the company the next day. She more than ever wanted to stay home with her daughter in case anything happened, but this was a major point in her product's marketing development. To Abby, all her mother did was design food boxes and labels, but to Casey, whose job opportunities in world economics fell through when she was pregnant in the spring of her senior year, her job was their livelihoods.

"Hi, Mrs. Samuel; it's Casey from down the hall." She waited for a response on the other end of the call. "Can you watch Abby tomorrow. She is home sick and I have a crucial report to deliver tomorrow... You would, thank you so much!"

Casey hung up feeling relieved, yet uncertain. Abby would be fine. It wasn't the first time that Casey had left Abby in someone else's hands considering her situation, but right now especially, she felt almost dependent on her daughter to help the two of them through their sometimes hectic lives.

Abby appeared from her room with a few yawns later that night surprised to see Casey still up on the couch watching TV.

"Go back to bed, sweetie." Casey cooed, about to let out a few yawns herself.

"What are you doing up still?" Abby asked, sincerely concerned.

"Thinking..." Casey replied staring off into space.

"You do that a lot." Abby said shrugging her shoulders and turning back to her pitch black bedroom.

"I won't be home all day tomorrow." Casey called after Abby had disappeared into her room.

"I heard you call Mrs. S." Abby replied rather nonchalantly.

"Oh. Well, don't give Mrs. Samuel any trouble; I doubt you will."

"Mhm." Abby said back between yawns. "Good night."

Casey was out the door before Abby had even seen the light of day the following morning. An unfamiliar scent was present in the kitchen as Abby noticed her neighbor's overwhelming perfume mixing with the breakfast she was preparing.

"Hi, Mrs. S." Abby called in a sing songy voice. She was feeling much better than the night before and even suspected that her fever was down.

"Your mother left me instructions to make you breakfast and lunch and take your temperature twice and give you your medicine between meals." The older lady told Abby as she poked a clump of scrambled eggs onto a plate and poured Abby some orange juice.

"Thanks." Abby muttered as Mrs. Samuel hobbled away with that glazed look across her face.

After Abby's shower, the two sat on the couch; Mrs. Samuel reading a long book with a glossy blue cover and Abby scrolling through her teacher's websites, keeping track on what she had missed. Just as she had considered earlier, her temperature was down to 99.0, but the school only permitted returning students to hold a non-fever temperature at least a day before they returned in hope of stopping the spread of any sickness. So as Abby sat bored out of her mind, she couldn't help but notice how often Mrs. Samuel tended to nod off.

By noon. Mrs. S was up again preparing another meal and hurrying Abby over to the kitchen to take her medicine. Abby appreciated what her neighbor did for her and her mom, but after seven years of living beside her, Abby got the feeling that Mrs. Samuel never understood the concept of aging. The lady acted as if she was thirty something, even though her body said sixty and to her, Abby was still a toddler who needed coddling every time she had a task to complete. So when Abby picked up the thermometer to stick under her tongue, Mrs. S snatched it from her and did it herself.

It wasn't a surprise though, that within an hour after they had ate their lunch, Mrs. S was passed out on the couch with her book laying sloppily on the carpeted floor bellow her and her glasses crooked on her nose. Abby approached with caution as she set the woman's book neatly on the side table and put the lady's glasses down on top of it. Then without further thought or consideration, grabbed a light jacket and left the apartment with a cell phone and key on person.

It took a while to find her bearings as Abby wandered around the streets near that drug store they had visited previously. All the tall and high rise buildings looked the same and the fluidity of the people and traffic let nothing stand out. Then, as she passed by another indistinguishable sleek building to her right, she noticed the same glass panel on the outside of the brick work with all of the resident's last names behind it. She stepped in off the side walk into the small archway that covered her view of the sky and ran her small fingers down the list. She stopped a couple times feeling as though a name looked familiar, or maybe she had heard it somewhere, but alas, as her finger met the end of the glass plate and the start of the rough brick design below, her heart sank with defeat. All of a sudden she felt stupid for being there. Of course she would never recognize his name; whoever it was that was so significant to her mother. Even if it was a man from her story, her mother had switched the names around and no Ryan somebody or Michael What's his face would be up there.

Sighing, she turned to leave, head down ready to cry out of embarrassment and shame that she had snuck out for nothing. Then suddenly, a tall figure with faded jeans and a hoodie stepped out of the building and almost ran into Abby.

"Sorry, didn't see you there." The man sad cordially, turning to Abby and smiling with a goofy grin on his face.

Abby just stood there and nodded. The man hesitated a little bit which caused Abby's breathing to tighten.

"What?" Abby asked in a tense voice.

"Nothing, nothing." The man said apologizing for his odd behavior. "You just remind me of someone I once knew." He smiled in another direction as he stared off into space for a few seconds before turning and walking away, humming as he went.

Abby knew it was a shot in hell, but dared to anyway.

"Ducky!" She yelled in his direction, but there was no response; no answer. "Hmm." She said puzzled as she followed him with her eyes down the street, getting farther and farther away. Had he not heard her? It was a possibility, but she knew she could be quite loud and obnoxious when she wanted to be. She was pretty loud. But then again, she had just recovered from a sore throat, so maybe her voice was quieter from the strain. Either way, her test was inconclusive and the event left with more questions than when she had gone out in the first place.

The apartment was still silent when she returned and Mrs. Samuel lay in the same spot as before; a little bit of drool being the only difference this time. Leaving her be, Abby found her way to her room and began her homework silently until her mom returned.

"So, no fever?" Casey asked at dinner as Abby sat silently across from her picking at her food.

"98.8, last time I checked." Abby replied nodding her head slowly.

"Good." Casey returned smiling. She waited for her daughter to maybe ask her about her day, but Abby sat still, focused on moving her last pea around in circles without touching the center of her plate where her mashed potatoes sat.

"I got a promotion." Casey said smiling, hoping to see Abby's jubilant eyes shining back. Abby didn't look up, but feigned a smile and gave a warm assuring touch on Casey's hand that rested above the table.

"What's wrong?" Casey asked eventually as they cleared their plates to the kitchen.

"That man..." Abby started up, not realizing that her mom didn't and wasn't supposed to know anything about her sudden curiosity that day by the drug store.

"What man?" Casey asked confused as she turned her plate over and placed it on the rack in the dishwasher.

"Never mind mom."

Casey held one of Abby's shoulders and waited. "Tell me." Casey said with not so much a stern voice, but rather a pleading one.

Abby waited, but Casey held on, not letting go.

"That day at the drug store, you went up to that apartment building and well, I was wondering what it was that you were looking at..." She was approaching the information she wasn't supposed to know. "Was it about any of the guys in your story?"

Casey looked shocked and taken back, not realizing her daughter's sullen mood was about her story and its complications. She could lie and say it wasn't at all, but truthfully, it was. "Yes." Casey sighed leaving it off at that as she retreated to her room.

Abby didn't take the hint and trodden in after her. "I saw a guy." Abby dove in, hoping her mother wouldn't ask when. "He said that I looked familiar; that I reminded him of someone he once knew."

Casey gulped as she sat down on her bed avoiding eye contact with Abby.

Abby pressed on. "Was that my dad?"

**Ahh! Cliff hanger... so evil. Just an FYI: I will be out of the country for a couple of weeks, so I will probably not have the chance or ability to update (the suspense is prolonged). I will continue the story when I get back for sure, but it may not be updated until the first week of the new year. Happy Holidays and a safe New Year!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

**Last Chapter:**

Casey gulped as she sat down on her bed avoiding eye contact with Abby.

Abby pressed on. "Was that my dad?"

* * *

><p>Casey sighed quietly to herself before patting the bed beside her and allowing Abby to sit down. "Not everything that happens is connected to that story Abby." She found comfort in her retelling, but it seemed as though everything was about Casey's unpleasant past these days.<p>

"I understand, I just thought; maybe."

Casey held onto Abby's hand momentarily before releasing it and then rubbing her own forehead. "Yeah, I understand. You thought that maybe this guy had some connection."

Abby nodded fervently before looking back up to her mom; her eyes flickering with anticipation. "So?"

"He wasn't your father." Casey said point blank before getting up and putting away whatever loose articles of clothing she could find.

"That's it?" Abby asked hopping up and following her mother's repeating trips around her bedroom.

"Yeah. Yeah; I guess."

"And was he connected with the story?" Abby asked trying to get her words in when her mother's back wasn't turned.

"Connected, how?" Casey asked rather ignorantly as Abby's patience dwindled. It was obvious how much Casey was avoiding the topic.

"Mom!' Abby almost yelled as she quickly lowered her voice. She walked straight up to her mother and held onto her shoulders tightly while trying to hone in on her line of sight. "Was the man from the building in anyway connected to the story?"

Casey's eyes roamed everywhere but her daughter's face and it almost seemed as though looking straight at Abby would force the answer out of her.

"Yeah." Casey said staring off into space; her eyes conveying pain and sorrow.

Abby didn't seem to notice her mother's disdain over the answer, but instead left the room to process the new information.

They didn't speak again until it was almost time for Abby's bed. She would be going back to school the next morning and Abby needed to hear more of her mother's story in hopes of piecing together her newly acquired part of the puzzle.

"Can you continue tonight before I go to bed." Abby asked as her mother sat on the couch outside her room with a laptop looking up something on her work computer.

"Sure, sure." Casey waved her off. "Be there in a second."

Abby did as instructed, but found it strange how quickly Casey had changed from her previous frantic state just hours ago.

"Well, I believe I left off around the time when Michael returned from the States with his friend which would leave my story about halfway through the summer." Abby nodded in understanding. "During his time away I had gone out and bought him a nice double bed, prices were higher than what we had expected, and gotten a dresser with it as well. Moving his clothes was a little weird, but after that everything seemed normal besides his absence."

"So what happened when he returned?"

_Casey was moving about the apartment from task to another. It was summer cleaning for Casey and she was currently on the vacuuming stage. There was the sound of his car pulling up in the lot just outside their place, followed by soft steps up to the door and finally the sound of the key before the __door opened. _

_ "Hey Case." Michael said beaming. He looked happy. Happy was good. "Be back in a bit; got to unpack."_

_ It only took 30 seconds with Michael back home before he let out his loud, yet smooth yell. "Casey! Why is my bed so small?"_

_ Casey shook her head and rolled her eyes as she made her way to his room. _

_ "I-" She was cut off immediately. _

_ "Where is my stuff too?" Michael asked wide eyed. _

_ Casey waited a second to see if he was done before starting up with her explanation. "It was either that double bed with a nice mattress and the dresser or a queen with a bad mattress and no dresser." Casey finished waiting to see if she gained his approval. "Oh! And you're stuff is in there." She said pointing to the new and glossy five drawer dresser at the back of the room._

_ Michael swayed back and forth on the spot before replying. "Okay." He shrugged before tossing his small backpack onto his new bed and dumping the contents of his duffel bag into the laundry basket. "Unpacking finished."_

_ Casey gave him a disapproving look and left the room ahead of him. When she was back to vacuuming the living room he noticed more things that had changed besides his room. _

_ "What are you wearing?" He said quizzically. _

_ Casey looked down at her yoga pants, black tank tops and button down shirt. _

_ "Oh." She finally answered him as she shut off the vacuum._

_ "You're wearing my shirt!" He erupted after realizing what was strange about her appearance. "I knew you smelled funny. I was about to ask you not to use my deodorant, but clearly, you like cross dressing more." He laughed at his witty comment, but didn't bother asking Casey to take it off. _

_ Casey turned the loud vacuum back on and started running it across the floor, chasing him with the end of it as he yelped in surprise. _

_ "Stop." He asked rather unconvincingly. He let out a sly snicker before going into his room and leaving Casey clean in peace. _

"I'm glad there is no angst." Abby said after Casey had finished her anecdote.

"Well, it's just the first day." Casey glared suspiciously. "It's not all happy and play like forever for us."

_The following week, right after dinner, Casey was cleaning up the kitchen when the phone rang. She thought mindlessly and answered it; her curiosity mixed with anger and sadness once the voice on the other line started speaking. She was about to ask why he hadn't bothered to call her or tell her he left for a month when he started in on the real reason he was calling. _

_ "I just got back from Australia and-" Ryan spoke on the other end._

_ Australia! He went all the way to Australia. Casey was speechless._

_ "I was hoping you could stop by and pick up your books and jacket you left at my place." He finished. _

_ Casey's stomach dropped and her worst fears that Ryan thought it was truly over were manifesting. _

_ Casey choked. "Uh, yeah. Sure." She managed to get out before hanging up the phone and immediately releasing built up tears. _

_ Michael had just walked in and went to turn around and leave when Casey stormed out of the kitchen and into her room before Michael had the chance to. He waited for ten minutes before finishing the dishes for her and then going into his own room as well. Casey peered out of her door after he had left and made her way to the couch as she swallowed the rest of her anger and regret. She would not let this guy ruin her night. She turned on the TV and found nothing on except a rerun of The Wonder Years and the last half of Mulan. As she sat there watching the movie, she couldn't help but feel relieved that even the kick ass Chinese girl wasn't very resilient when it came to men either. _

_ When the credits started rolling she flicked off the movie and instantly started feeling bad again. She refrained from crying, but seeing the girl's happy ending in the movie only made Casey feel inadequate. _

_ After taking a long shower and dressing for bed, Casey crept into Michael's room only to find him asleep. She poked him twice, but to no avail as he grunted once before falling back to sleep. She knew it was stupid and childish, but he was the only other person there. Lifting up his covers, she scooted into the smaller bed beside him realizing just how small a double was compared to a king. He awoke momentarily with a, "what's going on?" but fell back to sleep again as Casey patted his head softly and lay down on the other pillow. She rubbed her eyes at the thought of crying again and shook her head telling herself over and over again that it wasn't worth it. Facing Michael's back, Casey found a crook in his neck and nuzzled in with her forehead resting right above his shoulder. As she took in his smell, she realized that this was the comfort she had been receiving in the former weeks during his absence. His clothing had been laying around and his shampoo bottle sitting next to hers on the shower shelf; each possession of his somehow finding its way amongst her belongings and ultimately her life. _

* * *

><p><strong>Really hard decision I made, so I need your feedback. What do you think about the man that is not Abby's father? Also, I never had a chance to edit it so there may be some grammatical errors. <strong>


	24. Chapter 24

**Definitely, Casey (Cont.)**

**So so so sorry for the wait but between college crap and my sudden obsession with New Girl, this story got side tracked so I understand if you no longer want to follow it. But if you do :) Enjoy**

* * *

><p><strong>Last Chapter:<strong>

_As she took in his smell, she realized that this was the comfort she had been receiving in the former weeks during his absence. His clothing had been laying around and his shampoo bottle sitting next to hers on the shower shelf; each possession of his somehow finding its way amongst her belongings and ultimately her life. _

* * *

><p><em> Casey woke the next morning chilled. The bed covers had been kicked to the bottom of the bed and Michael's warm body was no where in sight. Casey groaned as she sat up and recovered the comforter as she spread it over her body. Seconds later however, it was yanked off to reveal a snickering Michael before her. <em>

_ Casey muttered incoherent words before curling up in a ball on his bed. If she couldn't use the covers to stay warm, she'd go for her own body heat._

_ "it's almost 11:00 Case," Michael stated. "How much have you changed since my absence. Besides, who sleeps in on a nice day in July?"_

_ Casey sat up, her patience thin and snatched the covers out of Michael's hands. "Long night okay?"_

_ "Fine. Fine." Michael answered back putting his hands up in defense. _

_ Casey stayed asleep for another hour setting a record for how long she has been able to sleep in till. She convinced herself that it was just from exhaustion and staying up half the night, but even after such a short time in his new bed, the pillows, the sheets and covers all smelled of Michael; Casey just couldn't let go. _

_ When she came out from the bedroom and into the living room, Michael was chilling on the couch with a frozen yogurt with the windows open and his half full suit case still near the front door._

_ "Are you ever gonna finish emptying that thing?" Casey asked between chuckles._

_ "Maybe." Michael responded between spoonfuls of the cherry colored food. _

_ Casey walked over and started digging through the pile of mostly half eaten food and dirty clothes._

_ "Don't touch any of that!" Michael hopped up alarmed._

_ "What?" Casey asked jumping back as if there were snakes beneath his junk._

_ "Just don't throw it out." Michael said back with a bit of tension in his voice._

_ "I won't." _

_ "That's not what happened last time." _

_ "Huh?" Casey asked confused._

_ "There's a bag of cereal box clippings in there."_

_ The mention sounded somewhat familiar, but Casey couldn't place the newly found out information._

_ "What for?" Casey asked finding them under a dark blue sweatshirt with half eaten corn ships in the pocket. _

_ Michael jumped up again all finicky. "Ever since you lost my Mario Lemieux ad, I have been collecting other hockey ads on cereal boxes and magazines. I guess I am hoping that maybe I'd run into an older one, but the chances are slim."_

_ "You can bet on that for sure." Casey paused feeling inconsiderate. "But it's cool what you are doing."_

_ Michael nodded in appreciation for Casey's concerning comment, but still had that grave look plastered to his face. _

_ Casey moved over to the couch pulling Michael down with her and placing the ads on the night stand beside her. "Eat your yogurt that has been frozen." Casey smiled trying to lighten the mood._

_ Michael complied and the two sat in silence as Casey held her hand under his bowl for the escaping drips that left his spoon before entering his mouth._

_ "You know what's really cool?" Michael asked Casey as she maneuvered her mouth under the path of the drips so she could taste the cherry frozen yogurt every time it dripped off his spoon. _

_ "I don't." Casey replied clearly focused on catching the drips over his previous statement._

_ "We can just sit here and we don't have to worry about flirting and all the attraction and stuff."_

_ Casey froze mid drip as the red liquid hit her tongue and she almost choked as she said "That stuff," softly as if she weren't even talking to Michael. _

_ "Very cool." He smiled down at her before shifting his eyes away as she did the same, praying she'd find something, anything more interesting than Michael's scruffy hair that could look sexy no matter when or where he was. That chin with the barely noticeable hair that he swore was shaven everything morning, but more accurately, shaven every week and his eyes, the way they bore through her as if he knew everything about her, which probably wasn't far from the truth._

_ She didn't know really when it started or when it ended, all she knew was that middle part. She would always remember that middle part when the half full bowl of frozen yogurt clattered with force against the side table as he put it down in a hurry and when the subtle hint of cherry on her tongue turned into an explosion of flavor as his mouth latched onto hers taking more than a few drips of yogurt with it. It took until the point where their bodies were entwined together for them to actually break apart and for her sudden remembrance that she left the curling iron on to pop into her brain._

_ "Iron on," she said frantically hopping up with speed as her ability to form full, grammatically correct sentences seemed beyond her. _

_ Michael just sat there, hair askew, with an expression somewhere between fulfillment and shock._

"Wait a second!" Abby interrupted as she sat up straight. "You've taken this long to tell me this story and you haven't even mentioned till now that you kissed 'Michael'."

Casey shook her head with a shrug.

"So the kiss meant nothing?" Abby asked.

Casey stumbled for words. Anything to keep the topic settled, but there was nothing.

"Please tell me you guys, you know." Abby said winking.

Casey blushed before throwing a pillow in Abby's direction and shaking her head wildly.

"So Michael isn't my dad?" Abby asked suddenly nervous.

"I never said yes or no. Okay? Just sit and listen. If you wanted me to just tell you straight out, it wouldn't be much of a story now would it? You don't know everything yet."

Abby resigned as she lay back onto the pillow her mom had thrown previously and waited contently.

_Casey sat awkwardly on her bed as if she were to slide off the edge at any moment. This was probably due to the fact that half of her wanted to sit in a little ball on the floor and the other half wanted to continue her previous make out session. Of course she did neither and remained locked up in her room till she was too hungry to worry about complications. Luckily, when she emerged that night, Michael was gone and the fridge was free to raid without judgment. _

_ Although she felt like stuffing her face with ice cream and other comfort foods, Casey sat eating left overs at their small table an hour later wishing she could start the day over again. Would she make the same mistake? Was it a mistake? Her thoughts were so contradicting that she ended up over cooking her pizza in the microwave until it was an indiscernible pile of tomato sauce and bread mush. Scooping it up with a spoon, Casey didn't even realize the food's horrible texture sloshing around in her mouth till the microwave sounded again telling her her popcorn was ready. _

_ Although she lacked the basic foods a girl would eat after a bad break-up or fight, Casey had rented five movies and had them all lined up to watch to try to keep questions about Michael out of her head. Where was he? How did he feel about the whole thing? Obviously not thrilled since he had left Casey alone in her room without bothering to check on her. The facts were hazy, but lucky enough for Casey, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail were not. By the time Harry met Sally for the third time in New York, Casey was passed out on the couch with her blanket up to her chin and the lights dimmed just enough to sleep, but bright enough to walk around in. _

_ When she woke hours later, it wasn't morning. She stumbled at first, still groggy and found her way to her room or what she thought was her room. As she flicked the lights on in the bedroom, a girlish shriek emanated from a girl's mouth that wasn't Casey's. _

_ "What the hell?" The half naked girl in Michael's bed yelled as she wrapped her upper body in the sheets that Casey had been cuddling up in the night before. Casey backed up a bit, confusion, anger and betrayal settling in instantaneously. _

_ Casey looked to Michael for a response, but he had leaned back behind the girl as to not make eye contact with Casey. _

_ "Sorry." Casey replied to the girl almost sarcastically before slamming the door shut._

_ Casey had almost reached the security of her room when Michael came barreling out of his clad in nothing but his boxers and socks with alcohol on his breath. _

_ Casey snarled before shooting him a 'drop dead now' look. Instead of coming to his own defense, Michael took up a different position than what Casey was expecting. _

_ "What on Earth were you doing walking in on us?" Michael hissed._

_ Casey felt another blow to her chest as the word 'us' came hissing out the most. _

_ "I'm sorry, but were you not just drunk out of your mind with some bimbo you don't even know."_

_ Michael scoffed at Casey's remarks and barreled on. "What business of yours is it? I can bring back whoever I want."_

_ The words were hitting Casey everywhere now. So hard she felt dizzy. Was he not just kissing Casey hours ago and now this?_

_ "I just..." Casey felt powerless all of a sudden. She almost felt played. _

_ "Interrupted my time with a wonderful girl." Michael cut in with a cocky grin. "Actually, consider us even. You ruin my chance at a good time with Cath- Caroline, no Carolyn! And I the same with Ryan."_

_ Up until this point, Casey was more hurt than mad, but with the mention of her previous boyfriend's name, the tables were all of a sudden turned. _

_ "You did what!" Casey was fuming and Michael was not ready for the comeback. The effects of the alcohol and whatever else had entered into his system from the time Casey had run out on him till now was effecting his mind and reasoning. _

_ "I thought that was something I did! I racked my brains for week while you were off collecting scraps of paper and cardboard from marketing agencies trying to get you to buy stupid sugar cereals and sports equipment! And this whole time, you scared him off! I don't care what you do anymore Michael, really! Just get the hell away from me." _

_ With that Casey slammed the door to her room and proceeded to blast the loudest and angriest music she could get her hands on. She knew well enough that Michael would not remember everything that had gone down. For that she considered him lucky and only slightly wished she was too drunk to remember it as well. _


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Big apology for sending this story on hiatus. I got writers block and college applications and school got in the way and before I knew it, it was summer. So again, I shouldn't of been so lazy with this. I've also been second-guessing my decisions for the next parts of this story so I have many versions typed out, but I've decided on this one. **

**If your memory of the story is hazy, let me recap. **

**Casey met Ryan and things were going well until Michael scared him away. Michael went on vacation at the beginning of the summer. When he gets back, Casey, still unaware of what Michael did, takes a greater liking to Michael and they share a kiss. There is awkwardness after and Michael screws up and hooks up with someone else. **

**For Abby, she is no longer sick and is ready to go back to school. The man she saw at the apartment was indeed not her father, according to Casey, and she still is manic as ever to hear the rest.**

* * *

><p><em>With that Casey slammed the door to her room and proceeded to blast the loudest and angriest music she could get her hands on. She knew well enough that Michael would not remember everything that had gone down. For that she considered him lucky and only slightly wished she was too drunk to remember it as well.<em>

* * *

><p>"That was pretty stupid," Abby interjected as Casey sat back on her daughter's bed and sighed. "I mean sure mom, running off and not facing what you did was pretty immature, but Michael sleeping with someone else because he is confused on what happened is way worse."<p>

Casey nodded in agreement trying to move on with the story, but Abby wasn't finished yet.

"It's like: Hey, I'm Michael. Because I just kissed this girl who I'm supposed to be just friends with, I have to go hook up with someone completely random and insignificant to fix things!" Abby finished her attempt at mocking Michael and settled down. "I just don't know why boys can reason like that."

"Yeah, I know sweetheart. But the past is the past."

"Doesn't mean we can't learn from it." Abby cut in with a smirk across her face.

"What does that mean?" Casey wondered out loud as her daughter just sat there smiling, a yawn slipping out in the process.

* * *

><p>Abby was a pain to get off to school the next morning. At every opportunity she asked her mom more questions about the story and when she would continue it. Casey's mind had strayed however and she was currently occupied with a strong curiosity towards that man at the apartment. At first, she had merely shrugged him off as her mind playing tricks, but now that she thought about it more, her initial suspicion seemed plausible.<p>

As soon as Abby was out the door and on her way to school, Casey quickly dialed up her assistant at work and asked him to postpone any meetings, calls or new assignments that would come up until she got back that afternoon: Casey had some digging to do.

The first place she tried was the Internet. The idea of looking him up online was so simple, yet it evaded her till now. First she googled him. Like any normal being on this Earth, there were only three things with his name attached to it. The first was a player profile he had made when he attended university with her. It was old and out dated. It had his records from high school and university and basic stats. But as she expected, nothing on it could help her with what she was looking for.

There was of course a Facebook search attached to him as well. She skipped over it and moved onto the third site: LinkedIn. Like a business version of Facebook, the long list of names similar to his showed up below the search bar. A couple people had pictures attached to their names, none of which were his, and others had small résumé of places they worked or attended school at. Casey was blown away by how many of them had the same name as he did. There was an older looking gentleman who worked for Dell and attended Brown. The one below had no picture, but it listed over ten jobs in work experience. Casey scrolled over them multiple times but couldn't deduce whether he was on the list or not. From software analysis to international sports and wellness ambassador to senior commercial contract manager, the job listings all blended together. Casey's knowledge of his eventual career path was circumstantial at best and her best bet lay with Facebook.

Logging onto her own profile, Casey typed his name in again in the search bar. The short time her computer spent loading the results felt like the passing of years instead of seconds. Finally, she saw him, second from the top. He was the only one in his profile picture. She let out the breath she had been holding in and surveyed his profile. They weren't friends, but shared twenty-eight mutual friends. He was single. Another breath held in was released. He had a lot of information private, but it listed Queens as the university he attended and a business school she was not familiar with. Below in the 'about me' section it had his birthday and his political preferences. Casey laughed at his comment under the latter. "Myself?" she questioned him as she thought back to her own answer to that question: a long empty space left blank. It was just like him to still be goofy at this age.

Finally she spotted the info she had been searching for the moment she powered up her laptop. Under the current city section was a map and in the center of that map was a light red marker pointing to the city of Toronto.

Casey felt momentarily accomplished. Sure, this new evidence didn't prove it was really him, but it was a start. She took this first broken barrier in her own little quest for the truth as a stopping point for now however. Putting her computer back in her bag, she set out for work early that afternoon with an idea just taking root in her mind. Although her career was far from what she originally wanted to aspire to before she found out about her pregnancy with Abby, her job in one of Toronto's biggest advertising firms might actually help her out.

Abby got back from school around 4:00 pm that night to find her mom still at work. Like always, she went across the hall to her old neighbor's place and waited there till her mom got back.

Mrs. Samuel greeted her kindly as she stepped into the lady's apartment. It smelled musty in there like usual and all the shades were drawn so the only light emitted came from an antique lamp beside the couch and small slivers of light coming in below some of the doors.

"Is your mom still out?" She asked Abby before going to the kitchen to get the girl a glass of water.

Abby nodded before chugging back the cold liquid, the cool feeling refreshing Abby after her walk home.

Abby took a seat at the dining table and took out a small gaming device for entertainment. Before turning it on however, she noticed Mrs. Samuel still hovering above her, like she was waiting for something. This event was particularly odd as Mrs. Samuel usually retired to the couch to read once Abby came in.

"Yeah?" Abby asked sort of rudely as Mrs. Samuel took a seat across from her.

Without warning or an introduction for that matter, the older lady set off into a long story involving her husband and sister when they first moved to Toronto. Abby took this as a sign to put away her device and sat attentively waiting for Mrs. Samuel to continue.

"I was not used to buildings taller than a couple stories you see," Mrs. Samuels continued. "My sister and I grew up outside of Sussex, New Brunswick. I don't remember my dad, but my mom told me when I was ten that he had died just a few years after my sister was born in a mining accident. My mother remarried when I was 15 and died shortly after giving birth to my younger brother. We stayed with my stepfather for a year until my younger brother died from complications involving weak lungs. After that, my stepfather left unexpectedly and my sister and I stayed with some friends until I had enough money to take a bus to Quebec. I met my late husband there."

I'm sorry for all of your losses," Abby said with swollen eyes as her hands rubbed the sides of them. "I never knew you had it tough."

Mrs. Samuels shook her head and smiled weakly. "It's not your problem to worry about Abby."

Mrs. Samuel's gaze faltered as her mind toured the expanses of her memory.

"It's funny," she finally spoke up, breaking the silence. "I remember the fondest of details from my earlier years, but I can never remember what I did the day before. I remember the uniforms I wore when I attended school in Sussex and my mom's perfume she wore to church. My sister's voice is still crystal clear in my mind, you know."

Abby nodded. "What happened in Quebec?"

"Well, I wanted my sister to finish high school, even though I didn't, so I got a job to support us. We stayed the first few weeks there with a family whom we met on the bus, but after that, it was just she and I for a year. When I changed jobs the following year, I met my husband. He was five years older than I and was working there to pay for his dad's medical bills. We connected over our hardships even though I could barely understand him at times. His German accent was thick and his slang French was hard for my few years of languages in school to comprehend. He picked up English quite quick though and by the time my sister had graduated, we were engaged."

Abby's eye brows furrowed in confusion. "How old were you?"

Mrs. Samuels laughed innocently. "I was 20, not too young really. My sister received an offer from a paper in Quebec City after graduation and my husband suggested moving to Toronto with his dad to seek better health care and new job opportunities. I wanted to follow my sister, but I gave in."

"Do you think you made the right decision?"

Mrs. Samuels considered it for a while before nodding slowly. "Even though his dad ended up passing away three months after we moved here, the pay was better and I was able to get my high school equivalent which led me to attending U of T and my degree in linguistics."

"Languages?" Abby asked skeptically.

"Yes. Languages indeed. I always thought you were pretty clever you know. Do you remember what happened when you first moved in?"

Abby shook her head thinking back to when her mom and her first met Mrs. Samuels. She couldn't recall the day or any day close to it.

"Well I'm pretty sure you were about four years old and you were so vibrant compared to your mother at the time," she said thinking back. "Your mom was under a lot of stress and when I saw you following her up and down the stairs asking her loads of questions while she moved in, I decided to lend a hand. I watched over you in your apartment as your mom carried the smaller furniture and boxes upstairs. You were so interested in everything. After your mom brought in a folded table, the door-stopper to your front door slid back again like it kept doing all day and you went up to the door, put a piece of packing material in between the wall and the door and let it sit there so the door would never close. I thought it was clever."

Abby smiled quite pleased with her four-year-old self. Then she got an idea. "Do you remember much about my mom back then?"

"Some things, why?"

"Did anyone come to visit?"

Mrs. Samuels put her hand to her chin and she thought long and hard. "Her mom, your grandmother did a lot at first. Your aunt Elizabeth came for your birthdays a couple of years. I remember a young lady came with your grandmother many times and a boy only a few years older than you visited sometimes as well, though I think he was actually your uncle. There was also an older man and his son that came once with your grandmother too."

"Do you know who the younger guy was?" Abby asked fervently. She assumed the older man was her grandmother's husband whom she was not related to, but she always wondered about his two sons.

Mrs. Samuels shook her head. "He was sort of tall, brown hair. He had this sort of goofy grin on his face all the time."

Abby nodded ready to ask more when Casey knocked on Mrs. Samuel's door. She rose out of her chair and answered it before calling to Abby.

"Hey," Casey said nonchalantly once inside their apartment. "How was school?"

Abby rolled her eyes. "Uneventful as always mom. I had a good talk with Mrs. Samuels though. She told me about her life growing up in Sussex and Quebec and how she met her husband."

Casey smiled sweetly. "That's nice. You don't get to talk with her much, eh?"

Abby shook her head. "She doesn't usually open up to me. "

"What else did you talk about?"

"That I was a clever kid," Abby paused. "That's about it."

Casey chuckled. "You were clever. A pain in the butt though."

Abby stuck her tongue out at her mom before retrieving the glasses and plates for dinner.

"Are you going to continue your story tonight? I couldn't help thinking about it at school."

Casey looked down at her daughter. Abby was just like Casey: Persistent, stubborn and clever.

"Yeah, after dinner I can."

"During dinner?" She asked cocking her head.

"After," Casey said louder shooing Abby out of the kitchen to start her homework.

* * *

><p>Math never went by this slow for Abby. She only finished half of her homework before dinner and was stuck at the table doing the rest after. She thought of how her time could be better spent at that moment and wished for her homework to be gone.<p>

She kept one eye on the clock at all times as well, watching as the time Casey had to retell her story dwindled down to twenty minutes.

"Done!" Abby shouted after running into her mom's room. Casey was on the phone and ushered Abby out, her tone quite serious and urgent.

Abby listened through the door.

"I know that it's like twenty years old but-" There was silence on the other end as Casey waited for a response on the phone.

"Can't you help me out just once. I really want to run that ad…. For a friend okay?"

There was more silence. Abby kept her ear pressed to the door trying to make out words.

"Thank you so much!" Casey yelled in the other room.

The door quickly opened as Abby jumped back.

"Yes?" Casey asked suspiciously.

"Story?"

"Homework done?"

Abby nodded.

"Your room, five minutes."

"But I usually go to bed in fifteen anyway."

"Fine. You can stay up an extra twenty," Casey responded, suddenly eager to continue.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Thanks for your encouraging words. **

* * *

><p>"Ready?" Casey asked entering her daughter's room.<p>

Abby nodded. "Of course."

_Casey bustled around the next morning pissed off. She hoped a good night's sleep would calm her down a bit, but she had no such luck. After Casey left Michael out in the hall the night before, Casey heard him and the girl he brought home yell for about five minutes before the door to the apartment opened and immediately slammed shut. Casey was tempted to see whether Michael had gone back to bed, but she refrained and sat in bed until her eyelids got heavy and she fell back in exhaustion. _

_Showering and getting dressed, Casey listened for signs of life in Michael's room; there were none. After eating and checking for mail at the main building of the complex, Casey's curiosity got the best of her and she peeked inside Michael's room. The light's were out and the window shades drawn. He was facing the wall with the comforter covering part of his bareback and one leg curled up on top of it. Even though Casey was furious with him for whatever he did to Ryan and well, reasons she could not explain, she brought him a glass of water and then left quietly knowing just how horrible hangovers could be._

_Nervous with anticipation over how much Michael would remember when he woke; Casey left the apartment trying to occupy herself with something. She realized halfway to the mall that she still had to face Ryan. _

_It took a while to find Ryan's place since she had only seen it twice, but after many dead ends and wrong turns, she found his small town house on the other side of campus. _

_Casey sat in the car for at least ten minutes listening to the radio before going up to his front porch. _

"_Lovers come and lovers go, once they live but now they're ghosts; walking the streets they used to know like shadows, like shadows." The sad and sorrow-filled song on the radio played. "Who can you trust, in this place and whom can I, put my faith. If you're real, then show me now, who you are."_

_Casey breathed in. She could not stand the depressing sound of the song any longer and she knew she had face Ryan at some point. _

_Looking down at the white bricks on the porch, Casey noticed Ryan's muddy shoes in the corner beside the door. She couldn't help thinking about the day when she helped his friend make the stop-motion film. She was always a dramatic romantic, so she couldn't help but point out the fact that he wore those shoes that day. _

_Knocking before thinking to ring a doorbell, Casey waited rocking back and forth on her feet. His roommate answered the door. He looked friendly, but turned swiftly upon seeing Casey's face and called for Ryan. _

_Ryan came up from the living area behind the foyer and replaced the other guy at the door. _

"_Here," Ryan said handing Casey a bag of some stuff he still had of hers. It had been right beside the door for how long? Casey wondered. She almost reconsidered having the conversation with him, but pushed on._

_Letting herself in, she pushed past Ryan and found a seat at the breakfast bar._

_Ryan shot Casey a confused look, but Casey motioned to the seat beside her. Ryan sat hesitantly as he ran his fingers over the cool surface._

"_I want to say something okay?" Casey asked. _

_Ryan nodded._

"_I didn't know why you were mad at me at first, but then my step-"_

Casey paused her story.

"You're what?" Abby asked.

"My stupid friend." Casey corrected herself as Abby gave her a suspicious look.

"_My stupid friend let slip that he did something to you last night when he was drunk and I was curious what he said because it might not be true. He can be such a horrible… friend sometimes. _

_Ryan gawked. "He is your… friend?"_

"_Yeah, I know. We are way different. It's because we are stupid friends."_

"_No, I mean," Ryan began. "He hinted that you guys had been together for a while. I thought he lived there with you." Ryan looked relieved._

"_Well we do live together, but definitely nothing else unless you count hatred and furry," Casey responded channeling her feelings from the night before. _

_Ryan laughed. "I suddenly feel better for being an only child."_

_Casey chuckled lightly waiting for more from Ryan. "So?"_

"_I was really hurt when I thought you were seeing someone else, but I should have asked. I have had experience with unfaithful partners so you can see why I didn't want to hear an excuse. But I guess yours is totally legit. Why would your friend lead me onto thinking that he was seeing you?"_

"_Stupid-friend," Casey corrected. "And he does a lot of dumb and stupid pranks. I think he hates to see me happy with a guy sometimes."_

"Mom!" Abby interrupted. She could tell something was up but she continued on. "Michael just doesn't want you seeing other guys. Plus he loves you mom."

Casey rolled her eyes. "Where do you see these things? He is just my… stupid friend."

"_Would you be okay with going out with me again?" Casey lingered on her last words, nervous for the answer._

"_Of course." Ryan responded as he pulled her into a quick hug. "I really liked you-like you now that I know that Michael is just your stupid friend."_

_Casey smiled. "Well I should be getting back."_

"_I'll take that," Ryan said taking the bag from Casey's hand. "I'll call you tonight?"_

_Casey nodded as he leaned down and pecked Casey's cheek. _

"_Tonight." Casey confirmed as she floated out the door. The trip couldn't have gone better. _

_It wasn't until halfway home that she thought about what exactly Michael had did. For the first time since their kiss, Casey considered whether Michael had feelings for her. Besides the obvious reason that lying to Ryan would be a fun and evil prank against her, Casey pondered whether that kiss and Michael's attitude toward Ryan were connected. _

_A few minutes from the house, as she passed a lady walking on the street that somewhat resembled the girl from the night before, Casey's hate and anger toward Michael returned and she ended up deciding that Michael's actions were definitely to mess with Casey. If he even had an ounce of feelings toward Casey, he wouldn't of gotten so upset to go out and find a girl to sleep with. _

"Hey mom," Abby spoke up. "I think, like I said last time, Michael was confused. Although now that I think more about it, I think Michael slept with someone else because he saw you flee to your room and maybe thought that you thought kissing him was a mistake."

"But-" Casey went to interrupt.

"Waite!" Abby shushed. "He couldn't express his feelings to you since you were locked up in your room, so he went out to find another girl. Do you think she looked like you?"

Casey laughed, but inside she knew the answer quite clearly. The 'bimbo' as Casey had called her had brunette locks and Casey's intense eyes. She shared some of Casey's jaw and cheek lines and her voice was vaguely familiar to her own.

_The final minutes of the drive back was a build up of anger on Casey's side. By the time she turned the engine off, Casey's face was a light shade of red and her mind raced with insults to send at Michael. She didn't care if he sill had a headache. Not after he temporarily ended her relationship with Ryan, kissed her only to hurt her later and overall pretend like everything was fine. His sweet actions and genial countenance was all an act! _

"_You lying ass!" Casey screamed as she came barreling into the apartment._

_Michael was sitting at the table with waffles and chocolate milk. _

"_I made you some," he spoke up in between her yells. _

_Casey ignored him. "I just talked to Ryan, Michael. How could you lie to him and lead him on?"_

_Michael was speechless. "I know I got drunk last night and we fought. I'm sorry."_

_Casey just stood there. "Do you remember what we fought about?"_

_Michael gave her a puzzled expression. "Well, no. Did I do something stupid when I was drunk? Don't tell me I monologued for an hour." There was humor in his tired voice._

_Casey didn't look impressed. "You brought some girl back here and then admitted that you messed up my relationship with Ryan!"_

_All color drained from Michael's face as he took a sip of milk to hide it. _

"_So yeah, you did something stupid."_

"_I'm sorry Case," he tried apologizing. "I can be a real idiot sometimes, but I swear I'll make it up to you, okay?"_

_Casey crossed her arms huffing._

_Michael stood abandoning his meal. "Please?" He asked trying to hug Casey. _

_Casey shoved him off._

"_It's too late for that Michael. What are you apologizing for? What you did last night? What you did earlier this summer? Or every horrible thing you've done to me since we were fifteen huh?"_

_Michael was speechless. _

"_Yeah, that's what I thought. Your apologies mean nothing. It's like when George made you apologize when we were younger and you only did it to help yourself."_

"_I swear Casey," Michael said stepping in and trying to take her hand in his. "I mean it okay? I was just confused."_

"_Confused?" Casey laughed in frustration. She took a few steps away from him again. "I think it's your goal to try and put me down. How many guys is it now that you've ruined for me?"_

"_I was just trying to help you."_

"_I don't need your help Michael. Really, you've done enough being here for less than a year."_

"_What does that mean?" Michael asked. He was holding back a mixture of rage and hurt._

"_I'm sure you will have no problem finding an apartment during the summer semester. Once you've found a place, I want you out okay?" Casey tried to keep a straight face, but she felt her eyes tearing up._

_Just seeing her upset made Michael almost choke up himself. Keeping a straight face he nodded and grimaced. "If you want that Case. Maybe you should wait a few days before making a decision like that?"_

"_Wait for what? You to hurt me more?"_

_It was hard for either of them to listen to each other's words. As mad as Casey was, she was finding it hard to make it through this argument. She had that feeling in the pit of her stomach that she'd miss his company, but her mind told her that history would repeat itself and he'd cause her pain once again._

_With her final words Michael went to his room and came back a minute later with a bag packed with his essentials. _

"_I'll be at my friend Nathan's place," Michael said grabbing things from the bathroom._

"_I don't care," Casey responded, choking on her last word. _

"_If you feel that way," he replied matter-of-factly._

"_Oh, I do," Casey said rubbing her eyes._

_Once he left the bathroom it was one straight line to the door. Before Casey had time to look up, Michael was gone and the ends of her sleeves sodden in tears._

_Casey looked down at her meal for the first time that afternoon. The waffles Michael had made her sat idly by on the table next to her milk. Although still golden brown, they had gone cold. _


End file.
